


We're All in This Together

by sheyrenawyrsabane



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Kingdoms Hearts AU, M/M, Obligatory sea salt ice cream reference, not as cracky as the premise might suggest, the power of friendship saves the day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2019-03-09 13:38:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13482615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheyrenawyrsabane/pseuds/sheyrenawyrsabane
Summary: When Darkness threatens the Galaxy, King Mickey comes to Canada looking for recruits. Mitch is the first Canadian he knows of who's left Canada and he isn't exactly a willing student at Destiny Academy. As he learns that the Galaxy is much bigger than his home planet, he meets other students from the USA and Russia and Sweden. They battle Heartless and grow closer and Mitch learns that the real treasure is the friends you make along the way.





	We're All in This Together

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dellessa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dellessa/gifts).



> Huge thank you to Dellessa. I've had this story percolating for a while because there are two video games I can play, Super Mario Bros. 3 and Kingdom Hearts 1.5, and I no longer have a NES system. But I also realize that not everyone wants to read about the young guns in essentially a college AU with magic so I was just going to let the story sit in my imagination where it could make me giggle when I thought of it.
> 
> But Dellessa bid on me for Fandom Trumps Hate 2018 and when I floated the idea of this by her, she was all for it and that was all the motivation I needed. This has been my obsession while not at work, and I had such a fun time with this delightful, silly, fluffy piece of fanfiction. So thank you for giving me the nudge I needed to write this.

Mitch lobs a snowball at Davo and laughs as it hits him square in the back and explodes, snow flying everywhere. A minute later, Davo and Stromer team up to pelt him with snowballs.

“You fucking cheaters!” he shouts.

“Sucks to suck!” Stromer cheerfully calls.

They back him up against a rock outcropping so there’s nowhere for him to retreat. All there is is their assault of snow. Well, there’s  _ one  _ other thing. He closes his eyes, because it’s easier for him to focus like this. His magic is inside of him, a tangled swirl that will be useful if he can draw it out and channel it.

He untangles the worst of it and pulls magic into his fingers. A good blizzara will show them. Or maybe aero. He pulls more magic but as he throws it, he’s hit in the face of with a snowball. The surprise knocks his magic loose and the next thing he knows, they’re standing ankle deep in water, all the snow in a ten meter radius melted.

“Aw, shit,” Mitch says. 

Ever since he came into his magic four years ago, he was told his control would grow alongside the strength of his heart. If anything, his control has gotten worse. Once, he asked why there isn’t combat magic training the way there’s magic training for the healers. 

The answer is that it doesn’t matter.

Keyblade Masters are the special ones.

Well, special  _ one _ .

There used to be two Keyblade Masters, one light and one dark. They’d battle to determine who would be the Protector of Canada. A long time ago there was Don Cherry. Mitch read about Gretzky and he sort of remembers Lemieux. Something strange happened when Lemieux stepped aside.

Yzerman says light battled dark until they were both defeated.

It’s why Davo’s the youngest Keyblade Master in history. When Lemieux’s successors cancelled each other out, Davo was called. His heart is so pure and so strong there’s no dark potential for him to battle. They say he’s the greatest since Gretzky. 

Mitch remembers being at at recess, playing with their wooden swords when Davo’s turned into a keyblade. The blade is orange with a blue handle, the same colors but opposite of Gretzky’s. Mitch only had a moment to stare, mouth hanging open, before he was pushed aside as Yzerman and Sakic parted the crowd so they could reach Davo.

They rushed Davo to the Training Center. Only a few days later, they took Stromer too. Mitch waited another few days, expecting to be called. It had always been the three of them ever since Stromer’s older brother got stuck watching them so their parents could work. It took two weeks for Mitch to realize he wouldn’t be invited to the Training Center. It took another week before he was able to see his friends again.

Things were already different.

Davo was the Keyblade Master and Stromer was his Knight. Mitch was the tag along, the one who didn’t fit anymore. Babcock told him his control was too fragile to be allowed to train with the Keyblade Master.

They were afraid Mitch would hurt his best friend.

So now it’s Davo and Stromer.

And sometimes Mitch.

With water soaking through his shoes and socks, Mitch can’t blame Canada for keeping him away from Davo. Davo is their Protector, the Chosen One. Sometimes, Mitch wishes Davo had never been chosen. He wishes it was still the three of them, goofing off on the ice rink and hunting shadows with wooden swords.

Whenever he wishes that though, a voice whispers in his ear.  _ Are you a good Canadian boy? _

_ Yes,  _ he snaps back.

His shoes squelch and his shoulders slump. “Sorry, guys.”

“I was ready to go inside anyway,” Davo says.

“Me too.” Stromer throws an arm over Davo’s shoulders then his other arm over Mitch’s. “Does your mom have cookies?”

“I told her you were coming over so probably.”

“Awesome.”

Mitch grins and leans into Stromer’s side. Things aren’t the same as they were, but they’re still good. 

#

Mitch sits cross-legged in his backyard and tries to focus. His magic is a wobbly, slippery thing, exploding when he doesn’t need it and escaping his call when he does. He spends most of school working on his sword skills, but he knows this is important too.

If only he was a little stronger, a little better he--

“Marns!” Stromer drops onto Mitch’s lap without warning.

Mitch grunts and tries to shove him off. Predictably, he doesn’t budge.

“We’re going on an adventure!”

“Aventure?” Mitch twists to look at Davo who is watching the two of them with a fond smile on his face. “What kind? Was there another white mushroom sighting?”

“Even better,” Davo says. He rocks up on his toes,  _ excited _ . “There’s a visitor.”

A visitor?

Canada doesn’t get visitors. There’s a blockade around the planet to protect them against the Darkness. The defense system was built by Don Cherry, one of the legendary Keyblade Masters. It’s never failed them. They’ve stayed safe and protected while the rest of the galaxy is under constant attack. If the Darkness ever breaks through, they have Davo to protect them, but since Don Cherry, they’ve never needed to rely on their Keyblade Master like that.

Gretzky was known for clearing the western lands of Heartless so they could expand into Alberta while Lemieux pushed south, beyond the lake where search ghosts had colonized. They’ve populated their whole planet now. There are small pockets of Heartless which serve as training exercises, but there’s no threat anymore. 

But maybe there will be. If one person can slip into their planet then who’s to say that the Heartless won’t?

“How?” Mitch asks. Then, “Who?”

“That’s what we’re gonna find out,” Stormer says. “Come on!”

He leaps off Mitch’s lap and tugs Mitch to his feet. They probably shouldn’t, but if this person is a danger then the Keyblade Master needs to know. Besides, Mitch has never met anyone who isn’t Canadian. Their defense system keeps everyone else out, but it also keeps everyone here in. 

No Canadian has ever gone off planet and no one from another planet has ever come here.

Until today.

Mitch chases after his friends.

#

They sneak into the Canada Building.

There are guards, but Mitch’s magic actually cooperates, and he uses aero to cause a distraction. The guards turn the wrong way and they slip into the meeting room.

“Good call, bro,” Stromer whispers.

Mitch puffs up with a smile.

“Hush,” Davos hisses, but he pats Mitch on the shoulder. 

The meeting room has an open floor then rows of seating. The duck behind one the banisters to hide. It isn’t the best place, but Mitch doubts anyone will think to sweep for bored high schoolers. 

Ten minutes later, the room is still empty and Mitch has to pee. “This is boring. I thought this would be fun.”

“Patience,” Davo says. “This is where they bring visitors.”

“How would you even know? We’ve never had one before.”

The doors on the far end open and they quickly fall quiet. They also poke their heads over the bannister so the can see. A short figure in a cloak walks between Gretzky and Lemieux. A dozen other Canadians trail behind them, trainers and teachers and leaders. 

“See,” Davo hisses, because he always has to be right.

Mitch rolls his eyes.

“All due respect, your Majesty,” Gretzky says, “but Canada is seperate from the rest of the galaxy.”

_ Majesty? _

_ Galaxy?  _ Does Gretzky know about the other planets? He’s probably old enough that he remembers what life was like before the Blockade. Has he visited other planets? Does he know  _ aliens _ ?

Did he see the Darkness firsthand? 

“Malarkey,” the hooded figure says. “All our worlds are connected. Now more than ever, it’s important that we stand together. The Darkness grows stronger. We’ll need all our friends to defeat it.”

The Darkness? Mitch glances over at Davo. Will this Majesty-dude take Davo away to fight? What will they do without their Keyblade Master? 

“You have enough friends,” Gretzky says. 

“There must be a representative from Canada.”

“There are Canadians abroad,” Lemieux says. 

That’s news to Mitch. People have left Canada? How? And how come he’s never heard of it? Are they okay? Why would they even want to leave? Canada is perfect.

“Cowards,” Davo mutters. It’s the only warning they have before he bursts out of their hiding space. He vaults over the banister. Once he lands on his feet, he conjures his keyblade. “I’ll go and represent Canada.”

“Not without me!” Stromer says.

Which, of course, means Mitch has to jump in. They flank Davo as they stand up to their mentors and idols. 

The Majesty-dude still has his hood flipped up so Mitch can’t see his face. He wonders if they’re supposed to bow. He doesn’t think the guy is Canadian, but his mom did raise him to be polite.

“Hi, your Majesty,” he says.

Babcock sighs.

The cloaked figure removes his hood revealing...ears? “I’m glad the youths are wiser than their elders,” the Mouse-Majesty says. 

“You can’t have our Keyblade Master,” Gretzky says.

“It should be his choice.”

There’s a breeze, strange because they’re inside. Davo tilts his head as if he’s listening to a voice the rest of them can’t hear. The Mouse-Majesty frowns. 

“I should stay,” Davo says. “Canada only has one Keyblade Master.”

“Exactly,” Gretzky says. “And the Keyblade Master can’t be without his Knight.”

Stromer and Davo shuffle closer to each other, leaving Mitch on his own.

“You need one representative from Canada?” Lemieux asks.

Mitch shakes his head. They’re a trio; without him they’ll only be a duo. He doesn’t want to leave Canada. This is his home. What if the blockade keeps him from ever coming back? He looks to Davo and Stromer, but their heads are bent together, Mitch already forgotten.

He looks to Babcock next, desperate for someone to stand up for him. His teacher’s arms are crossed over his chest. His face is stern. Mitch’s heart sinks. There’ll be no help for him from anyone here.

#

He isn’t allowed to say goodbye.

Davo and Stromer are escorted out one door. Mitch is ushered out another. He follows the Majesty-dude.

“I wish you didn’t come here,” Mitch says. 

“There’s more to the galaxy than Canada. I’m King Mickey, by the way.”

Mitch scowls and doesn't introduce himself.

King Mickey doesn’t seem bothered. 

“How’d you even get here?” Mitch asks.

“A very good pilot. Did you know that Darkness surrounds your planet?”

“Everyone knows that. It’s why we need Davo. The strength of his heart keeps the Darkness at bay.”

Thinking about Davo hurts so Mitch tops talking again. He follows King Mickey to a sleek brown gummi ship. All the gummi blocks in Canada are red, not that they have much use for ships here.

“Heya kid,” a friendly guy with a brilliant white smile says. “I’m PK, your first officer for the trip.”

“You’re a stowaway,” the pilot snaps. “Stop telling people you’re a part of my crew.”

“Aw, Pricey,” PK says.

Mitch retreats to the far back of the ship so he doesn’t have to talk to anyone. The PK guy doesn’t catch the hint. He follows Mitch and sits down next to him. “No bag?”

“I didn’t exactly volunteer for this.” Davo did and then--well, Mitch is here and Davo isn’t. The Keyblade Master isn’t expendable. Mitch picks at the seam of his jeans.

PK’s smile dims. “You--”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“There’s more to the galaxy than Canada,” PK says, echoing the King’s earlier words.

Mitch still doesn’t care.

Canada is his home.

Was.

Was his home.

To his horror, tears spring up in his eyes.

#

“We’re here,” the King announces.

He presses a button and the window turns transparent so Mitch can look out a wherever “here” is. There’s sun and sand and trees Mitch has never seen before. They only have a couple leaves but they’re giant and make the trees look kinda like umbrellas.

What kind of hellish place doesn’t have maple trees?

“Welcome,” PK says, “to Destiny Island.”

_ What the fuck? _

PK hands Mitch a duffel bag. “To start you off, kid.” He pulls Mitch in for a hug. “If you’re ever in trouble then go to the Coliseum. There’s a guy there who will help you.”

Before Mitch can ask for a name or what the hell the Coliseum is, the pilot opens the hatch. King Mickey ushers Mitch off the ship. They leave the gummi ship hanger and to his left, Mitch can see the beach and the ocean. There are little shops lined up a safe distance from the shore. Beyond them are houses.

“What happens now?” Mitch asks the King.

“We enroll you in school.”

“You kidnapped me to send me to  _ school _ ?” Mitch demands.

A few people turn and look their way but no one does anything. Mitch already doesn’t like this place. The people aren’t friendly, and they haven’t come to his aid. He scowls at everyone they pass. 

“Your input will be important as we meet to discuss the future,” the King says, unfazed. “We’ll need Canada with us when the time comes to confront the Darkness.”

“It won’t matter.” Mitch might be the Canadian representative but he isn’t naive enough to believe that he represents anyone other than himself. Lemieux says there are Canadians who have left but they’ve never come back. It’s not how it works.

He’s been cut off from his country and sent here - for what? He’s a mage with no control. They sent him because he’s useless.

#

The King drops Mitch off at Destiny Academy then disappears.

Typical.

“You must be one of our interplanetary students,” the woman behind the welcome counter says. “There’s no need to look so nervous. You’ll be with plenty of kids your age, and you can visit your delegation whenever you want. Well, almost whenever you want.”

She smiles but Mitch doesn’t smile back.

He clutches his duffel bag as he’s led to small, shoe box room with oppressively white walls. A bed is up against one wall. There’s a dresser up against another. There’s a closet and a mirror and that’s it.

He misses  _ his  _ room with his posters and giant bed and parents just down the hall.

He unpacks the duffel PK gave him. There are a couple changes of clothes, a pair of running shoes and two pouches. One has a modest amount of munny. The other has a ring and a bronze bangle. The bangle has a note with it.  _ In case you go to the Coliseum _ .

Mitch doesn’t understand. He leaves the ring and the bangle and the munny in the duffel then shoves it under his bed. The clothes he puts away.

After that, he doesn’t know what to do.

His stomach rumbles, reminding him that it’s been too long since he last ate. He digs some of the coins out of his bag and decides to go on a hunt for food. If this is a school there has to be a cafeteria, right? And if he can sneak off campus then he can probably find a restaurant.

He slips through the dormitory, ducking into alcoves or turning his face away whenever he sees someone in a blue polo that marks them as school staff. He finally gets outside, and he shoves his hands in his pockets and wanders until he finds a part of the wall that’s hidden by a tree and the building.

The tree isn’t a good climbing tree but it’s close enough to the wall that Mitch can shimmy his way up between them. He reaches the top of the wall and slings one leg over.

“What are you doing?”

He looks down to see two boys outside the school. One has dark hair held back by a bandana. The other has an explosion of curls on top of his head. They’re both staring at him.

“Um, sneaking out?”

The dark-haired one smiles. “There are doors.”

But then people could stop him.

“We’re going to lunch. Do you want to come with us?”

The curly-haired one groans. “Auston.”

Auston elbows him then smiles at Mitch again. “We’re meeting some other people. We can introduce you. You’re new, right?”

“What gave it away?” Curly Hair mutters.

Mitch doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life alone so he swings the rest of the way over the wall and drops down to join them.

“I’m Mitch,” he says.

The boys wait but when Mitch just shoves his hands in his pockets, Auston shrugs.

“I’m Auston and this is Jack. We’re from the United States of America.”

“USA for short,” Jack says.

They’re both staring at him again so Mitch stares back. Jack has earrings along the curve of his ear, far too many for them to all be useful. At least, that’s what he remembers from Babcock’s lessons.

“How come you have so many earrings?”

Auston laughs but it’s at Jack not Mitch. “Yeah, Eichs, how come you have so many accessories?”

“Shut up, Mr. Fucking Useless Bandana.”

Auston keeps laughing.

No one answers Mitch’s question but they let him tag along to lunch so that’s okay. He meets another two Americans, Dylan Larkin and Zach Werenski, and Auston promises to introduce him to the rest of the crew later.

“Burky and Willy like to eat lunch with their mentors,” Larkin says as they head back to the school. “Ours say they need time away from us.”

“Hey, does yours want to eat lunch with ours?” Werenski asks.

Mitch is uncomfortably aware that everyone else here has people and he doesn’t. He aims for a nonchalant shrug. “He’s a bit of a loner but I’ll pass on the invitation.”

“Where’d you say you were from again?” Larkin asks.

He tries not to hunch his shoulders too much as he says, “Canada.”

All four Americans stop and stare at him. “ _ Canada? _ ”

“I didn’t realize they let people out of there,” Jack says.

“The King wanted a delegation from every planet,” Mitch says.

“King Mickey personally recruited you?” Jack looks a tiny bit impressed.

“Yeah,” Mitch answers. He shrugs like it’s no big deal.

“We’ve been here for a couple years,” Larkin says. “USA Pipeline program. This is the top training academy in the galaxy.”

They voluntarily left their planet? Maybe if enough people go it isn’t as lonely. He admits to himself that if Davo and Stromer were here then this might be kind of fun. But they’re not here. They abandoned him and didn’t even put up a fight when he was taken away.

“How’d you even get here?” Jack asks. “Isn’t Canada blocked off from everyone else?”

“We’re surrounded by Darkness,” Mitch answers, “but I guess there’s one pilot brave enough to make the trip.”

“You flew with  _ Carey Price? _ ” Werenski asks. “You’re so fucking lucky.”

“Yeah,” Mitch says.

Auston’s stare lingers longer than the others like he knows Mitch isn’t telling the full truth.

They head back to the school, and Jack makes a big show of using the door. He’s kind of an asshole but so is Mitch, so he just laughs and follows them back to their rooms.

#

The Americans have class in the afternoon so Mitch is left to his own devices again. When he goes back to his room he finds that someone has slipped a class schedule and a map under his door. He starts classes tomorrow. The morning is all boring shit--math, history of the galaxy, magical theory. The afternoon is a long magic block. There’s nothing about sword training. Maybe they just want to ease him into it?

The map says there’s a cafeteria so that’s good to know.

#

He skips dinner and stays in his room until breakfast the next morning. It’s weird going by himself, but it means there’s no one to judge him as he fills a tray with food. He finds an empty end of a table and sits down. 

It isn’t long before a blond with gravity defying hair joins him. He brings a brunette with him.

“I’m Willy,” the blond says. “And this is Burky. Are you really from Canada?”

“I’m Mitch. And yeah.”

“Wow,” Willy says then chugs his juice.

“What are you here studying?” Burky asks. 

“Magic, I guess.”

“Me too,” Willy says. “They’re trying to make Burky a healer.”

Like Stromer, Mitch thinks. His breakfast sits heavy in his stomach. “Cool.”

The two are clearly friends and they chat all breakfast and don’t care that Mitch doesn’t say much. He doesn’t catch half of what they’re saying but at least he isn’t the kid eating on his own.

#

“Hi, I’m Johnny!” a kid in Mitch’s math class says.

He’s another fucking American. Is their planet too small for them or something?

#

Johnny is also in Mitch’s magical theory class which means Mitch trails him to lunch where they meet up with the rest of the Americans.

“Hi,” Auston says. “We missed you at dinner last night.”

“Oh. I was unpacking.”

“What’d you bring with you--a whole house?” Jack asks.

Mitch shrugs. “It’s not like I’ll be going home soon.”

The table falls uncomfortably quiet.

“Sorry,” Mitch says. “I met Willy and Burky at breakfast. They said they’re from Sweden.”

“They’re chill,” Auston says.

“Their mentor is fucking scary,” Werenski says. “He gives you that dead-eye stare and--” he shudders.

“Backstrom’s a softie,” Larkin scoffs. “Unlike  _ Ovechkin _ .”

“What’s your mentor like?” Johnny asks Mitch.

“He keeps to himself.”

“Surprise, surprise,” Jack mutters.

Mitch shovels some potatoes into his mouth.

“Ours are awesome,” Johnny says. “You should hang out with us tonight.”

“Okay,” Mitch says.

#

His magic trainer is Jon Cooper who has an affinity for lightning but is good at basically everything.

“Where’s your staff?” he asks Mitch at the start of the lesson.

“Staff?” Mitch asks.

Cooper stares at him.

Mitch stares back.

“We’ll get you one,” Cooper says. “For today, you can practice without it.”

Mitch looks around the room. Everyone else has some kind of staff. Do they enhance magic the way Davo’s Keyblade enhances his strength?

Cooper sends him to work with Willy and Johnny.

“Oh, hey!” Johnny greets with a blinding smile.

Is the kid happy all the fucking time?

“Hi. I, uh, don’t know what to do.”

“Really?” Willy asks.

“They don’t really do magic training in Canada.”

“Then how do you know you have it?”

“Sometimes I light things on fire.”

“ _ Awesome _ ,” Johnny says. “Fire’s my favorite too. Willy likes lightning.”

#

Mitch doesn’t hurt anyone in class which he counts as a win. He’s pretty beat after it, though. It makes it easier to just follow Johnny back to the American part of the dormitory. To his surprise, Willy tags along too.

They all pile into the American’s common room and Mitch is introduced to Vladi and Kuzy who are from Russia. Then Hanifin comes in.  _ Another _ American.

“There’s so many of you,” Mitch says.

“Strength in numbers,” Werenski says.

In Canada, strength comes from the heart. Mitch doesn’t say that in case they think he’s criticizing the way they do things in America.

“Where are you from?” Vladi asks.

Mitch knows to expect the surprised faces when he answers, “Canada.” He doesn’t want to talk about himself all night so he adds, “but now I’m here.”

“Russia is better,” Kuzy says.

“Here we go,” Burky sighs as five Americans immediately tell Kuzy he’s wrong.

#

Mitch hangs out later than he should, hiding yawns then stretching out on the floor. He doesn’t know when he falls asleep but he wakes up on the couch with a blanket covering him.

It’s… nice.

He slips out without seeing anyone but of course he sees them at breakfast.

“Sorry about last night,” he says.

Jack shrugs. “It was Matts who put you on the couch.”

Auston’s cheeks turn pink and he suddenly finds his cereal super interesting. 

“It was probably better for my back than the floor,” Mitch says.

“I’m surprised your mentor didn’t storm into the room looking for you,” Larkin says.

Mitch shrugs. “He knew I’d come back.”

“Were you a troublemaker?” Jack asks.

“It’s how I ended up here.” Mitch grins so they won’t see how truthful he’s being.

#

He makes sure to find Auston after breakfast.

“Thanks,” he says as the others walk ahead of them. “For real.”

“You seemed like you could use the sleep. I didn’t want to wake you up.”

“It’s a good thing you’re so strong.” Mitch pokes Auston’s biceps for emphasis.

“Maybe you’re just small.”

“Small?” Mitch squawks. He jumps on Auston’s back to try and drag him down to the ground, but Auston just grunts and takes the extra weight. “Seriously?” Mitch grumbles. He wraps his legs around Auston’s waist.

“Lazy,” Auston says.

“Might as well use your strength to my advantage.”

Mitch is pretty proud of himself for securing a ride to class. And, even better, when he slides off Auston’s back he’s blushing again.

“See you at lunch?” Mitch asks.

“Yeah.”

#

It takes Mitch a whole week to figure out that he isn’t in sword training because they don’t think he needs it. It takes another week for him to sneak into one of the classrooms and take a wooden practice sword. If they won’t train him then he’ll have to train himself.

He wakes up early in the morning to practice in a hidden corner before anyone else is awake. He might not be living in Canada anymore, but he still needs to be ready in case the Keyblade ever comes to him.

The early mornings are tough, but they mean he falls asleep in the Americans’ room on most nights. They’ve taken to giving him the couch right away so they don’t have to move him later.

But some nights JVR catches him mid-yawn and says, “Shouldn’t you head back to your room, kid?”

He can’t exactly say he’d rather sleep on the couch then alone in his room so he always shrugs, waits for someone to tell him to stay, then leaves when they don’t.

One time, JVR asks him where his mentor is.

Mitch stays away for two days and tells them he was having mentor time.

#

“Mitch!” Johnny shouts, sprinting across the quad. He’s breathless when he reaches Mitch so just tugs on his arm.

Mitch follows because he doesn’t have anything else to do. 

They’re in a part of the school Mitch has never been in when Johnny finally says, “Jack and Auston are sparring. You don’t want to miss this.”

They pass through a hallway and suddenly they’re in an arena. The stands are full of Mitch’s classmates. On the ground level, Jack and Auston are both stretching. Mitch doesn’t see any practice swords lying around. 

Maybe it’s normal for Americans to fight barehanded.

They sit in the first row with the other Americans.

“You made it,” Werenski says. “Auston will be happy.”

Larkin elbows him.

“What? Is it a secret?”

“Maybe I shouldn’t have bet on Jack,” Hanifin says.

Both competitors stop stretching. Mitch leans forward in his seat. When Keyblades appear in their hands, he gasps, loud enough that they both turn to him. Mitch knows he’s staring and that his mouth hangs open like he’s some backwoods boy but-- _ Keyblades _ .

“How?” he asks.

There are  _ two  _ Keyblade Masters in America? Is it bigger than Canada? More dangerous?

“What do you mean, how?” Jack asks. He twirls his Keyblade as he heads over. “Haven’t you seen a Keyblade before?”

“Of course I have. Davo has one. But he’s the Keyblade Master.”

“He uses Master form?” Auston asks.

Mitch shakes his head. He can’t quit staring at the two Keyblades. Jack’s has a white blade and a red handle. A bulldog charm hangs from it. Auston’s blade is gold with a green handle. Mitch doesn’t recognize the charm on it. It’s green with little spikes.

“How are there two of you?” Mitch asks.

“Canada only has one Keyblade?” Johnny asks.

They’re looking at him like  _ he’s _ the weird one.

“The Keyblade chooses the Canadian with the strongest heart to defend our planet.”

“Um,” Johnny says.

“Like a cult?” Willy asks.

“Just a thought,” Jack drawls, “but maybe Canada wouldn’t be trapped by Darkness if more than one person used a Keyblade.”

“What’d you say about Davo?” Mitch demands.

Around them, the air crackles with electricity.

“Are we sparring or what?” Auston asks.

Jack shrugs and pushes off the wall so they can face each other. Larkin whistles at them. Werenski throws some popcorn. They both flip him off before springing into action.

Jack lunges forward, sweeping his blade out. Auston blocks with his own blade before spinning into an attack. Jack’s forced back on his heels and their blades clash. Sparks fly, each of them trying to outmuscle the other. Auston ducks and weaves, breaking the stalemate. Off-balance, Jack stumbles and Auston presses his advantage.

Jack rolls out of the way and then they circle each other, looking for an opening.

“They do this a lot?” Mitch asks.

“Yeah. They’re Paired,” Werenski says.

“Paired?”

“I guess you wouldn’t have that,” Werenski says. “Keyblade wielders come in twos, one using Light and one using Dark. They train together, fight together.”

Mitch’s eyes widen as he watches Jack try to use his height to drive Auston to the ground. “Dark?”

“So there’s balance,” Johnny says. “Dark is different from Darkness.”

That sounds made up.

“Your, uh, Davo, he only uses Light?”

“Yes,” Mitch snaps before he remembers that Johnny doesn’t mean it as an insult. “Sorry. It’s just--it’s the purity of Davo’s heart that keeps the Darkness at bay. We’d be in real trouble without him.”

“Wow,” Kuzy says. “I don’t know what I’d do it I was the only one who could wield a Keyblade.”

“Talk about pressure, huh?” Larkin asks.

“Davo’s the best,” Mitch says. He wraps his arms around his waist. He doesn’t want to talk about this anymore.

#

Oshie, one of the American mentors, hangs out with them that night. He gives Auston and Jack each a chocolate bar then settles into what Mitch has taken to thinking of as his couch.

“Canada only has one Keyblade wielder?” Oshie asks.

Mitch sighs and stretches out on the floor. “Yes.”

“How?”

“No one else is good enough.”

Auston stops unwrapping his chocolate and Larkin stops trying to steal Jack’s.

“What the fuck?” Oshie asks.

“Davo’s the Keyblade Master. The Keyblade chose him because he has the purest and strongest heart in all of Canada. He’s the youngest ever chosen. He’s the best of us all.”

“No seriously,” Oshie says. “What the fuck.”

“Not all planets are the same,” Auston says. He shifts closer to Mitch.

“I need to talk to your mentor,” Oshie says. “They actually teach you that you’re not good enough?”

“They don’t need to teach us. We just know. It’s why I can’t summon a Keyblade. Why none of us can.” Mitch pushes to his feet. “And my mentor doesn’t want to meet you. You’re a jerk.”

“Mitch--” Auston says, but Mitch is already gone.

Mitch grabs his wooden practice sword then takes it to the arena. There are wooden dummies to practice on. He goes through the steps he remembers and hacks and chops at the dummy until its arms come off. He steps back, panting, and the dummy comes back together.

“Cool, huh?”

Mitch spins around to see Auston leaning against the wall. He’s in a navy blue hoodie with a palm tree on it. 

Mitch scowls. “I wanted to be alone.”

“How come you practice if you can’t wield a Keyblade?”

“Because I have to be ready in case something happens to Davo.”

“Oh.” Auston hops up on the half-wall. “Being Canadian sounds lonely. I don’t know what I would’ve done without Jack.”

“We just do things differently. I don’t see why everyone’s making such a big deal out of it.”

“None of us has ever met a Canadian before. Well, PK and Price, but Price says he’s a cowboy not a Canadian. I guess I never thought I’d meet one. I can stop asking questions.”

Mitch drags his sword over to where Auston’s sitting. “I don’t mind if it’s you.”

Auston smiles at him, hesitant, until Mitch smiles back. He knocks their shoulders together.

For the first time since coming here, Mitch doesn’t feel alone.

#

The school gives Mitch a mage’s staff since he didn’t come with one of his own. It’s a piece of smooth wood not long enough to be a walking stick but not so short as to be called a wand. There are brightly colored shards embedded into it. Apparently they boost and store different kinds of magic. 

Mitch can now reliably hit a target with fira now. And when he doesn’t, he can use aqua to put out the errant flames.

Willy and Johnny have cooler staffs. Willy’s is studded with thunder gems. It was a gift from his mother. Johnny crafted his with his dad. It has blaze gems. 

“Where do you find that stuff?” Mitch asks, trailing his fingers over the gems.

“You can buy them from PK the next time he comes to visit,” Johnny says. “The Moogles sell them too, but it’s a rip off.”

_ But what if I don’t have any money? _

#

Jack finds Mitch after class. They’re not best friends or anything, but Mitch doesn’t mind hanging out with him if Auston isn’t around.

“Johnny says you’re looking to upgrade your staff.”

Mitch shrugs.

Jack steps closer until there’s no chance that anyone will overhear them. “Heartless drop gems if you don’t want to buy them.”

Mitch’s head snaps up. “Yeah?” He keeps his voice low. “And you know where to find some?”

Jack grins, teeth glinting in the afternoon sun.

#

Friday after dinner, Mitch meets Jack and Auston in his hidden spot. They each have a backpack. Auston hands Mitch a belt with three potions and two ethers strapped to it.

“You sure about this?” Mitch asks them. He doesn’t mind breaking the rules, there isn’t anything they can do to him that’s worse than what’s already been done.

“We need the practice,” Jack says.

“Are  _ you  _ sure?” Auston asks.

Mitch just laughs and leads them to the best place to scale the wall. “This is tame compared to what I used to do back home.”

#

They walk along the beach for what feels like forever until Jack points them to a cave. They turn into it and both Americans summon their Keyblades. Jack’s glows, casting enough light to see where they’re stepping. They’re a couple meters into the cave when the darkness in front of them  _ blinks _ .

“Shadows,” Jack says.

“No shit,” Mitch tells him.

He shoots a sheet of ice and the shadows in front of them fall to the ground, melting into the cave floor, leaving behind some gil and a few items.

“Hey!” Jack protests before he leaps into action.

Between the three of them they make quick work of the shadows. They pick up all the loot and put it in various backpacks. 

“We’ll split it up before we head back,” Auston explains.

“Let’s keep going,” Jack says. “I want to buy tickets to the blitzball tournament.”

“Yeah, cause  _ that _ won’t be suspicious,” Auston mutters.

They make quick work of another set of shadows. 

“This is boring,” Jack says. “I want a real challenge.”

They leave the beach to head into a forest. The first group of Heartless they encounter are lanterns, all different colors.

Jack gets zapped by a yellow one and Mitch is singed by a red one before he throws his arms up and casts stop. With the bouncy fuckers frozen, Jack and Auston cut them down with ease. Brightly colored shards fall from the sky.

“These aren’t an upgrade,” Jack says as he dumps them in his bag. He looks at Mitch, challenging.

It reminds him of Davo and Stromer, how they’d dare each other into adventures and like hell is he backing down now. 

“Let’s go deeper then,” Mitch says.

They walk for a long time, the forest silent around them.

“Too quiet,” Auston murmurs, a moment before monkeys pour down from the trees. One lands on Mitch, knocking him to the ground. A second one, yellow instead of blue, tries to steal his backpack. He whacks at it with his staff.

Auston fights off three monkeys before another five pile on him.

“Motherfucker!” Jack shouts as one bites his ear.

These aren’t anything like fighting shadows. They  _ hurt _ .

Auston staggers to his feet, monkeys hanging off of him. He fights his way to Jack only to slip on a banana peel. Monkeys descend on him.

Mitch holds his staff in two hands.

_ Come on,  _ he thinks.  _ You can do this _ .

The air around him crackles. 

He takes a deep breath and  _ strikes _ .

Lighting touches down, blasting monkey after monkey. It lights up the whole area. He can see the blood on Jack’s face and the fear in Auston’s eyes.

He casts thundaga again until the forest floor is littered with gil and items and all the monkeys are gone.

Jack’s Keyblade provides enough light for Mitch to rush to the Americans’ sides.

“Fucking awesome,” Jack croaks.

Auston smiles, just for Mitch.

Mitch grins then slumps forward, faceplanting on Auston’s chest.

“A minute to regroup sounds good,” Jack says.

They split a potion before they leave and fight the shadows in the cave again because Jack says lucid shards fetch a decent price.

“Pretty useless beyond that,” he says.

It’s Auston who steers them towards the diner on the edge of the beach. 

The waitress sighs when she sees them but her gaze lingers on Mitch. “You’re dragging other people into your mess?”

“Mitch was clutch,” Jack says then claims a table that’s too big for the three of them.

They sort their bounty over pancakes and chocolate milk. Auston makes sure Mitch gets the two power gems. 

“You can trade one with PK for a thunder gem,” Auston says.

“Or we can go for a swim,” Jack says.

Their waitress whacks him with a menu.

#

Mitch is full and happy and almost brave enough to hold Auston’s hand on the way back to the school. 

“Tonight was awesome,” Mitch says as they head into their building.

Oshie and JVR are in the lobby, arms crossed and  _ pissed _ .

“Aw shit,” Jack says.

“Aw shit is right.” Oshie points to the stairwell. “Room. Now.”

Both boys hesitate, looking back at Mitch.

“You come too,” JVR says.

“You’re not my mentor,” Mitch snaps.

“Where is he?” Oshie asks.

“Sleeping. I’m very stealthy.”

“Then we’ll take care of discipline tonight,” JVR says. “Unless you want to wake him up for this.”

Mitch scoots his butt up the stairs.

Instead of turning for the room Mitch usually hangs in, they go the other direction to the mentors’ room. Are they going to yell? Now, Mitch lets himself hold Auston’s hand. He grabs Jack’s too for good measure. Strength in numbers.

“Touching,” Oshie says.

Mitch bares his teeth at him.

JVR sighs. “Some people in this room need to act like adults.” He shuts the door behind them. “What were you  _ thinking _ ? We turn a blind eye when you fight shadows because the practice is good and, honestly, if you can’t beat a bunch of shadows you deserve a trip to the infirmary. Shadows didn’t do  _ this _ to you.” He gestures at them.

“It was my fault,” Mitch says. He squeezes Jack and Auston’s hands hard enough that their protests turn to gasps. “The shadows were boring. I wanted more of a challenge.”

“Mitchell,” JVR says.

Mitch screws up his face. “Don’t call me that. I fought Heartless all the time in Canada and that was only with one Keyblade Master. I figured we could do anything with two.”

“That’s not what happened,” Auston says.

“Was too. Don’t listen to him. There was a lot of electricity involved. It probably fried his short term memory.”

JVR sighs. “Are any of you seriously hurt?”

They all shake their heads.

“At least there’s that. Alright. You two stay put. I’m walking Mitch back to his room.”

“You don’t need to do that,” Mitch says. “I know my way back.”

“I’m talking to your mentor. This,” he looks at the three of them, “doesn’t happen again.”

Mitch doesn’t make any promises. Now that he knows where the cave is, he can get there on his own. Shadows are easy, and he could use the gil. He needs to start saving for when he graduates and can’t live at school. Maybe PK will take him on as an apprentice.

JVR ushers him out the door which leaves Jack and Auston with Oshie. Mitch thinks he might gotten the better end of that deal until he remembers that JVR expects to meet his mentor. The one who doesn’t exist.

Well, shit.

“I really don’t need an escort,” Mitch says. “I promise to go straight to bed. No more adventures tonight.” 

“Keep walking,” JVR says.

Mitch sighs and leads him to his room. It seems even smaller after being in the American suite. He hangs his backpack on a hook and takes his staff out to rest next to his bed. 

“Is your mentor’s room down the hall?” JVR asks.

“Sure.” Mitch pulls his dirt- and banana-stained shirt over his head and grabs a clean one to sleep in. “Let me know if you find him.”

“Mitch.”

He shimmies out of his shorts and pulls on a pair of lounge pants. He needs to replenish his wardrobe. At least he has the gil for it now.

“Mitchell--”

“Don’t call me that,” he snaps. The only two people who call him Mitchell are his mom when he’s sick and Stromer when he’s being an asshole.

“You don’t have a mentor,” JVR says.

Mitch has run out of things to do with his hands. He climbs into his bed and pulls his covers over his head.

“How could they send you on your own?”

Mitch laughs, sharp and harsh. “Because I was the only expendable one.”

He lowers his blankets enough to see the shock on JVR’s face. “Once you leave Canada you never go back.”

JVR takes a step forward, pity in his eyes. 

“Fuck off,” Mitch says. Then, voice trembling, “You have your own kids to take of.”

JVR sits on the edge of Mitch’s bed. He doesn’t budge even when Mitch kicks him. Mitch huffs and flips onto his stomach.

#

When he wakes up, there’s a note next to his bed.

_ You’re grounded. Come to the American suite after class. _

#

“ _ Dude, _ ” Johnny hisses when Mitch gingerly sits across from him at breakfast. “You went Heartless hunting last night?”

Mitch nods. It was worth it last night and it’s still worth it this morning when his entire body hurts. He squeezes ketchup onto his eggs and shovels them into his mouth.

“I want to go,” Johnny sighs.

Werenski laughs. “Like JVR or Oshie will let us out of their sight now.”

“Ovie goes with us,” Kuzy says. “He calls them training exercises.”

Willy nods. “Backy too. He says we’re too dipshit to be left on our own.”

Jack swaggers over to the table, grinning despite the bandage on his ear.

“All that metal didn’t protect you?” Larkin grins.

“Probably acted like a homing beacon,” Hanifin says. 

Jack just cheerfully flips them off. “Want to hear about Auston tripping on a banana peel?”

“You fought bouncywilds?” Vladi asks.

He and Kuzy exchange a look, impressed.

“They were annoying fuckers,” Jack says and launches into a tale of last night.

Under the table, Auston’s foot nudges Mitch’s. He raises his eyebrows as if to ask  _ okay? _ Mitch nods. A little sore but he’d do it again in a heartbeat.

#

After class they have to report straight to JVR and Oshie who make them do their homework then extra work on top of it. At 9, JVR walks him back to his room. At least he doesn’t lock Mitch inside.

On the third night of his punishment, Mitch discovers that there’s no one standing guard outside his door. He takes his wooden sword and scoots down to the arena to practice his forms. There’s still some lingering soreness from the other night. His muscles protest but eventually cooperate. 

He beheads a dummy.

Someone applauds behind him.

He spins around, sword raised. It’s Oshie. Mitch doesn’t lower the sword even though he knows it’s useless.

“What are you doing here?” Mitch asks.

“You told us you were sneaky,” Oshie reminds him. “I’m making sure you stay out of trouble. Of course, since you’re grounded you aren’t supposed to be out of your room.”

Mitch scowls and faces the dummy again. “You’re not in charge of me.”

“Someone has to be.”

Mitch scowls again and hacks at the dummy until it’s limbless.

“Your form is shit.”

Mitch shrugs.

“How come you’re practicing this anyway? I thought your friend was the Chosen One.”

“He is. But if something ever happens to him then we have to be prepared. There’s always a Keyblade Master, and no one knows who it will choose.”

“Do you want it to choose you?”

“Not anymore.” Mitch watches as the arms reattach themselves to the dummy. “When I was little it was the only thing I wanted. I practiced every day and did all my chores and listened to all my teachers. Davo was always better than us. He didn’t even have to try to be nice. It made sense when the Keyblade chose him. That’s when I stopped wanting it. Because now if I want to be the Keyblade Master then something bad has to happen to Davo.”

_ You’d never be worthy _ .

Mitch tries to shake the voice off but it clings to him like an ill-fitting suit.

“What happened to the Keyblade Master before your friend?”

“Lemieux retired.”

The words are true, but they ping something not-quite-right. Lemieux  _ was _ the Keyblade Master and he  _ did _ retire, there was a big ceremony, but that was when they were too young for Davo to be chosen. There was someone else.

_ It was McDavid _ , the suit says.  _ A good Canadian boy. _

“Mitch?”

He snaps his attention back to Oshie. “Sorry. Lemieux retired and the Keyblade chose Davo.”

“The Chosen One can retire?”

“It was time,” Mitch says.

“Canada seems like a shitty place to live.”

“It’s the best planet in the entire galaxy.”

The suit holds him tight. It would feel like a hug if it wasn’t so hard to breathe.

Oshie frowns again.

#

The day after their grounding is lifted, the entire campus is buzzing.

“PK’s coming!” Johnny exclaims at breakfast. “He always has the best stories.”

“Who wants to take bets on if Price will smile?” Jack asks.

Everyone’s distracted during classes, and they rush to their rooms to get their stuff so they can bring it to PK to haggle. Mitch hangs at the back of the line, hoping to catch PK alone for a minute or two.

Auston waits with him. “I don’t really need anything right now,” Auston says.

They don’t talk much but they do exchange a smile when Jack strolls past, pockets bulging with munny and talking Hanifin’s ear off about the next blitzball tournament. They exchange another smile as Willy and Burky squabble over who got the better haul--Willy’s thunder gem or Burky’s new ring.

When it’s Mitch’s turn, he feels like a jerk when he says, “Can I go up on my own?”

“Sure,” Auston says. He finds a tree to lean against and gives Mitch a thumbs-up.

PK operates out of the gummi ship, the hatch open and his wares spread out on a table. He grins when he sees Mitch. “How’s it going?”

Mitch shrugs. He hands PK a duffel with clean, folded clothes and a pouch with carefully counted munny.

“I don’t think you understand how presents work,” PK says. His smile doesn’t falter. 

“I haven’t found a bronze bangle yet,” Mitch says. “So I still owe you.”

“You’re stubborn.”

Somewhere from inside the ship, Price laughs.

“Do you have any gems?” Mitch asks. “I’m crafting a staff.”

He’s all out of thunder gems but Mitch trades his extra power gems for the others. 

“Look at you learning,” PK says. “I know you didn’t learn staff crafting in Canada.”

Yeah, cause Canada never told him how a staff could boost and concentrate his magic. “It’s not so bad.” He sells his lucid shards. “Have you been back to Canada? If I gave you a letter--” he cuts himself off when PK’s smile slips.

“Kid, it’s not what you think.”

“They haven’t even tried to find me,” Mitch says. “I would’ve. If someone took them away then I’d smuggle myself onto the next ship. Even if I was the Keyblade Master.  _ Especially _ if I was the Keyblade Master.” Tears sting at the corners of Mitch’s eyes. “I don’t want them to forget about me.”

“Chin up,” PK says, the slightest waver in his voice. “The galaxy needs you.”

Mitch rolls his eyes but he doesn’t feel like he’s going to cry so that’s something.

He slips his gems into his pockets and meets up with Auston.

“Everything okay?” Auston aks.

“He’s out of thunder gems.”

Oshie and JVR lean on PK’s table, talking too quietly for Mitch to overhear. They look back at him once, and Auston tugs him towards the school.

“We’ll be at the front of the line next time.”

“Or,” Mitch says, “we could go swimming.”

#

“Didn’t you just clear your punishment?” Johnny asks as he follows them to the beach. 

“So we’re not in trouble anymore,” Mitch says. “Being grounded wasn’t so bad.”

“I can’t believe I’m helping you with this,” Johnny says.

“Quit being such a baby,” Jack tells him. “We’re having a beach day. Hanny and Larks are covering for us. You just have to keep the raft afloat so we don’t drown on the way back to the beach. 

“They’d better be  _ really good _ seats for the tournament,” Johnny says.

The raft is barely big enough for the four of them but they pack in and row out towards the ocean. There’s a cooler with a couple of potions and another with snacks for Johnny.

Mitch buzzes with excitement. When he’s fighting with Jack and Auston he feels like a part of a team again. He reminds himself that they’re a duo with a tag-a-long, but it’s still nice that they think he’s helpful enough to bring him.

They paddle until they can’t see the beach.

“No thunder,” Johnny reminds Mitch as they strip down to their swim trunks. “It only makes them stronger.”

“He  _ knows _ ,” Jack says. “You worry too much.”

Mitch pats Johnny’s ankle, a thank you. He slips into the water. They all have special masks so they can see and breathe underwater. Mitch modified his belt so he can strap his staff to it. It means less potions, but hopefully they won’t need them.

Jack takes the lead, cutting through the clear water. Mitch and Auston follow him, keeping an eye out for Heartless. They see a bunch of fish, but no Heartless.

Auston points towards where all the fish are coming from and Jack changes direction. Something’s scaring the fish away. They swim down towards an outcropping of rock and when they swim around it there’s a giant bloated  _ thing _ .

“It’s an aquatank,” Auston garbles through his mask.

It has friends with it, two tentacled jellyfish things and dudes with pikes. Possibly Mitch should pay more attention in class. He unhooks his staff and fires off a blast of ice. It knocks the tentacle-things back and freezes the pike-dudes.

Auston swims in with his Keyblade raised as Jack takes on the aquatank. Between Mitch and Auston they take care of the little guys. The water around them hums.

“Uh-oh,” Mitch says right before they’re all hit by thundara.

Auston swears.

Jack swings his Keyblade blindly.

Mitch shoots a fireball and the aquatank vanishes, leaving a thunder gem in its place.

“Nice,” Mitch says. He lets Jack and Auston split the rest of the drops.  _ This _ is what he came here for.

Jack, hair frizzed out even underwater, grins. “Again?”

#

By the time they resurface, the sun has begun its descent.

“Holy shit!” Johnny shoves Jack back into the ocean. “I thought you were  _ dead _ .”

Jack laughs and swings himself back onto the raft. He slaps a frost gem in Johnny’s hand.

“Woah,” Johnny says. “You, uh, had a good time then?”

Mitch has a thunder gem for his staff and another to sell to PK next time he visits. They got some other stuff too, but Mitch keeps his gem in his palm and stares at it the whole way back to the beach.

They stash their loot on the way back to school which turns out to be a good idea, because Oshie and JVR are waiting for them at the entrance to the school.

“Pockets,” JVR says.

They all turn out their pockets but there’s nothing in them. The cooler is full of empty snack wrappers.

“We went for a swim,” Johnny says.

“So why isn’t Jack sunburned?”

“Vigorous reapplication of suntan lotion,” Mitch answers.

“Johnny, you can go,” JVR says.

It leaves the three of them with JVR and Oshie again.

“I guess classes aren’t progressing fast enough for you,” Oshie says. “You want a challenge? We’ll give you a challenge.”

#

One week from today, the three of them will face Backstrom and Ovechkin in the arena. Mitch is excited and a little nervous.

“I definitely need to upgrade my staff then,” he says.

“We’ll get the stuff tonight,” Auston tells him. “We’ll store it in your room if that’s okay.”

“Sure.”

“We shouldn’t all go together,” Auston says. He looks at Jack. “You mind staying here?”

Jack smirks. “Not at all. If you try to steal my stuff then I’ll know.”

“Whatever,” Auston says.

He and Mitch head back into town but they don’t go straight for their hideaway. Auston steers him towards the beach and a little snack stand. 

He buys them each a sea-salt ice cream. “You ever tried this before?”

Mitch shakes his head. “I’ve been trying a lot of new things since I came here.”

Their fingers brush as Auston hands him his ice cream. “I hope you like it.”

Mitch smiles and wanders down towards the beach. They leave their sandals by the stairs and walk barefoot across the sand. He takes a bite. It’s cold and the mixture of salty and sweet is new, but, “I like it,” he says.

Auston’s cheeks turn pink. “Good.”

They walk closer to the water so the waves lap at their feet. When they finish their ice cream, Mitch realizes that they’re on a star-lit walk on the beach. He smiles and bumps his hand against Auston’s. 

“I like this too,” Mitch says.

Auston grins as he threads their fingers together. “Yeah?” 

“Yeah.”

#

They get their stash and sneak back into the school. Luckily, they don’t run into any of the grown-ups on their way to Mitch’s room. It’s his first time showing someone his room. Well, except JVR but he invited himself.

Mitch opens the door and, too late, wonders how Auston will react.

There’s only one bed, and it doesn’t look lived in because he spends as little time as possible here.

“Oh,” Auston says.

“Yep, cozy little room just for me,” Mitch says.

“Do you want to come stay with us tonight?” Auston asks. “I’ll tell JVR to stop sending you back after lights out.”

“Okay.”

They hide their stuff again and head to the American suite. When Mitch heads towards the couch, Auston redirects him towards his room. “If you want.”

Mitch grins and flops dramatically onto Auston’s bed.

“Hey,” Werenski says from the other bed. “How was, uh, swimming?”

“Good exercise,” Mitch says.

“Are you really fighting Backstrom and Ovechkin?” Werenski asks.

“Yep.”

Werenski eyes Auston as he climbs into bed. “Can I have your white fang?”

“We’re sparring,” Auston says. “It’s not a fight to the death.”

“And who says we’re going to lose?” Mitch asks.

Auston pulls the blanket over them and Mitch snuggles closer. Honestly, he planned on staying awake and talking for a while but, exhausted from their adventure today, he falls asleep almost right away.

#

“Wow,” Jack says when Mitch and Auston emerge from Auston’s room the next morning. “Good walk, then?”

“Fuck off,” Auston says before covering a yawn.

Johnny flashes them a smile and a double thumbs-up.

Mitch slings his school bag over his shoulder and the seven of them head out for breakfast. They meet up with the Swedes and the Russians once they’re there.

“You’re really fighting Backstrom and Ovie?” Vladi asks.

Willy nudges Mitch. “Can I have your staff?”

“Why does everyone assume we’re going to lose?” Mitch asks.

“Tooling around against Heartless is different than a real fight,” Kuzy says.

“It’s a training exercise,” Auston says.

“Is your mentor coming?” Burky asks Mitch. “We haven’t met him yet.”

“I doubt he’ll be there,” Mitch answers.

Everyone stares at him.

“He knows this is a big deal?” Vladi asks.

“We’re the only Canadians,” Mitch reminds them. “He has important stuff to do.”

“You’re important,” Burky says.

Mitch rolls his eyes. “I’m the one having fun while he has to go to all those meetings and shit. He’s the one you should be feeling sorry for.”

#

JVR finds Mitch on his way to the arena. “How come all the kids want me to find your mentor and drag him to the fight this weekend?”

“I don’t know. Oshie’s the intimidating one. You’re a giant softie.”

“Mitch.”

“James.”

“You should tell them.”

“That I was the most expendable so when the King came knocking they sent me off and didn’t bother sending anyone with me? No thanks.”

He ducks into the changing room and JVR doesn’t follow. Today is the first day the three of them are training together. Mitch is excited for it and a little nervous. Kuzy was right, tooling around against the Heartless is one thing. Becoming a  _ team _ is entirely different.

Auston and Jack are already in there, laughing and pushing at each other. Auston’s only put one of his arms through the holes in his shirt. Jack’s is in a heap on the floor.

“Hey,” Auston says.

He turns to Mitch and Jack tackles him to the floor.

“Is this how you warm up?” Mitch asks.

The two Americans grin before they gang up on him.

Oshie is not impressed when he has to drag them out to practice.

“Strategy,” he tells them. “You’re going to need it.”

“There’s two of them and three of us,” Mitch says. “Jack distracts Ovie and Auston distracts Backstrom and I throw fireballs around.”

“How come  _ you’re _ not the distraction?” Jack asks.

“You have more hit points than I do.”

“How are your healing spells?”

“Minimal, but I throw a mean potion.”

“No items,” Oshie says.

“Unfair,” Jack says.

“We’ll make it work,” Mitch says. “They don’t get items either.”

“No but Backstrom is a tank and Ovechkin has a bunch of magic.”

“We can still do this,” Mitch says.

“Go team,” Auston says, dry, and Mitch beams.

#

On the morning of the fight, they line up across from each other. Mitch holds his hand out. Backstrom and Ovechkin eye him like it’s a trap.

“You don’t shake hands before a sparring match?” Mitch asks.

“After,” Auston answers. “To show there’s no hard feelings on either side.”

Mitch wraps his fingers around his staff. “Okay, then.”

Someone announces the teams. There are cheers for Ovechkin and Backstrom.The arena is thunderous for Auston, Mitch and Jack. Mitch grins and tries to fade into the background. Ovechkin points a finger at him. He knows Mitch’s strategy and won’t let him hide.

Good thing there’s a Plan B.

As soon as the fight begins, Jack charges Ovechkin, because if the Russian’s whole focus is on Jack then he can’t bother Mitch. 

Mitch dives out of the way of a fireball. Jack sweeps his keyblade and Ovechkin has to block the swing with his staff. Mitch throws a fireball of his own.

He checks on Auston and Backstrom--their blades are locked together as they try to out-muscle each other.

Ovechkin throws a tornado to knock Auston off his feet. Mitch freezes Backstrom’s shoes to the ground so he can’t take advantage.

Jack’s Keyblade connects with Ovechkin’s shoulder and he grunts before casting thundaga.

Mitch topples him with a well-timed aero.

It becomes a dance, dodging Ovechkin’s attacks while trying to figure out who needs his help more--Jack or Auston. Once, he blasts Ovechkin which messes up Jack’s attack and another time, Auston forces Backstrom to retreat which makes Mitch’s fireball miss.

Mitch’s shirt is soaked through with sweat, and he’s panting by the time Ovechkin knocks Jack out of the fight. Mitch’s ice blast knocks Ovechkin out too, which means it’s just Mitch and Auston against Backstrom. And, since Mitch is out of magic, he’s useless.

Auston falters and Backstrom sweeps his legs out from under him. On his back, Auston swings his keyblade up to prevent the ‘killing’ blow. His arms shake with the strain of holding Backstrom back. He won’t last for long, and Mitch is defenseless and offenseless once he loses Auston.

Well, there’s one thing left that he can do.

He holds his staff in both hands and takes a deep breath. His pulse thuds in his ears. Magic,  _ life _ tingles in his fingers. He pours it into his staff then  _ pushes _ .

The crowd gasps then cheers and Mitch opens his eyes to see Auston surge with new life. He catches Backstrom off guard and overpowers him. It’s Backstrom on the ground now, and Auston holds his Keyblade to Backstrom’s neck.

“I yield,” Backstrom says.

Auston pulls his Keyblade back and they both turn to Mitch. He wavers then drops to his knees. 

“Ow,” he says. That will definitely hurt later. Not right now, though. Right now, everything is floaty.

Auston grabs Mitch’s face between his hands. “What did you do?”

“Teamwork makes the dream work,” Mitch slurs.

JVR appears out of nowhere and lifts him up in an undignified bridal carry. “Let’s get you to the infirmary.”

“I can walk,” Mitch says.

“You can’t even stand.”

“Eh. We won though.” He wriggles, trying to make JVR drop him. “Seriously, all I need is a potion. Or like, food and sleep.  _ Pancakes _ .”

“Infirmary,” JVR says, stern.

Mitch sighs.

#

They give him Jell-O in the infirmary. It’s better than nothing so he crushes three cups before he turns his attention to his visitors. Backstrom and Ovie are here and Oshie and JVR and Jack and Auston. It’s a lot. He grins.

“What was that?” Ovechkin asks. “You used magic I’ve never seen.”

“You don’t have HP gift in Russia?” Mitch asks. He looks around the room. “Anywhere?”

“We have MP gift,” Oshie says. 

“That would be cool,” Mitch says. “I don’t think Canada has that one.”

“HP gift,” Backstrom prompts.

“Right. Uh, you give up some of your health for someone else. And because it’s a sacrifice it gives it a boost. I think the staff helped too.”

“You’ve done this before?” Backstrom asks. The accent makes it hard for Mitch to figure out what he’s feeling. 

Mitch nods. “You really don’t have this? Everyone in Canada can do it. I guess if you have multiple Keyblade wielders then it doesn’t matter as much.”

_ Now _ he can tell that Backstrom is mad. It makes him want to hide under his thin infirmary sheet. He looks over at Auston who… isn’t looking at him.

“Did I do something wrong?” Mitch asks. He hates how tiny his voice sounds. He sits up straighter in his bed. “The rules said no items. I didn’t break the rules.”

“You didn’t,” JVR agrees. His voice is tight like he’s mad too.

“Tactically it was the right choice.” Mitch wants everyone to quit looking at him like he’s a screw-up. “I was out of magic so I couldn’t do anything else. Auston can fight with his keyblade but once my magic is gone then I’m useless.”

“You’re not useless,” Oshie says.

Mitch’s room feels too crowded with all of these people in it. “I want to rest now.”

“It was a good match,” Ovechkin tells him. He pats Mitch’s ankle. “I look forward to the next one.”

He and Backstrom leave together.

“Come on,” Oshie tells Jack and Auston. “Let’s get you patched up.”

Mitch wants to ask Auston to stay, but he still won’t look at him.

JVR stays, sliding a chair over so he can sit. He glares at the floor.

“You’re mad,” Mitch says.

“Not at you, kid.”

Mitch turns on his side and tries to sleep.

#

He’s released from the infirmary and goes to his room. It’s better than showing up at the Americans’ suite and finding out that Auston doesn’t want to see him.

He flops down on his bed and turns his staff over in his hands. Colored light reflects on the walls as the gems catch his overhead light.

He wonders if he’ll ever figure out this galaxy.

#

His moping is interrupted by a summons to the Meeting Hall. They’re finally having their first delegation assembly. Honestly, Mitch had forgotten that was why he was brought here in the first place.

He’s also not sure what use he’ll be but he’s told to show up so he shows up. There are long tables with name cards at each chair. Mitch finds the one that says  _ Mitchell Marner - Canada _ . There’s even a flag underneath it. 

Unfortunately, it makes it super obvious that he’s the only Canadian.

Backstrom glances at him and his lonely placard and frowns. 

Ovechkin marches right up to him. He looks at Jagr on Mitch’s right then Chara on his left. “Where’s your mentor?”

Mitch shrugs. “Don’t have one.”

“Don’t have one?” Ovechkin draws in a breath like he has more to say but Backstrom comes over to pull him away. Mitch sinks down in his seat.

“You’re brave,” Jagr tells him.

Is it really bravery if he didn’t have a choice?

#

The meeting is boring. The King talks about the advancing Darkness and the importance of banding together to fight it.

“The Darkness is tearing through space,” the King says. “It’s bringing our worlds closer together which is an advantage we have to use if we don’t want it to consume our planets.”

“You want us to fight?” someone says.

“What, like an intergalactic  _ army _ ?”

There’s murmuring amongst the crowd.

“We protect our own. Why should we help anyone else?”

“We’re too small to fend off the Darkness on our own,” Girgensons says.

“If we wait for the Darkness to come to us then none of us will be able to defend our planets,” Oshie says. “We need to attack the Heartless forces before they split up.”

“Too risky,” someone says.

Mumbled agreement.

“We need to be united,” JVR says.

“Yeah?” Someone points to Mitch. “How come Canada is above all this?”

“Canada sent a representative,” JVR says.

There are more than a few scoffs.

“Canada sent a  _ kid _ .”

“What good is a representative from a planet he can’t return to?”

“Travel to Canada is possible or I wouldn’t be here,” Mitch snaps, “and I grew up with the Keyblade Master. If we come up with a plan that needs Canada then I’ll get him on board.” Maybe not the rest of Canada, but he can get Davo and Stromer and between the three of them, they can take on anything.

The King smiles like Mitch said the right thing.

“We need a strike force,” Oshie reiterates. 

“And leave our planets helpless?”

“Everyone sent people here,” Mitch says. “That means we’re all--”  _ expendable _ \-- “available. Why not build a team out of us?”

“Out of  _ kids _ ?”

“Have a team that’s mostly  _ American _ ?”

“Not our fault you’re too cowardly to send more,” Oshie says.

“Who are you calling cowards?”

Mitch watches as the room dissolves into chaos, everyone shouting and yelling, standing when they don’t think they’re being heard.

_ This is how they’re supposed to drive the Darkness back? _

#

After the meeting, he seeks out Oshie, because he wants to know more about this strike force and how to get on it. Oshie and JVR are with Backstrom and Ovechkin, and they’re too busy to notice him.

“No mentor?” Ovechkin asks.

“We’re working on it,” Oshie answers.

_ What’s that supposed to mean? _

Mitch decides to talk to them later. He spent enough time being a grown-up today. He changes directions, heading to the Americans’ suite. Auston’s doing his homework and things have been weird since the sparring match, but Mitch believes in steam rolling over awkward so he drops himself in Auston’s lap and says, “Entertain me.”

“Where have you been?” Johnny asks.

“Doing important people stuff.” He pokes Auston’s stomach. “Want to take a walk?”

“You’re not getting more work done either way,” Werenski says.

Auston closes his book. Sensing victory, Mitch scrambles off his lap, but he grabs Auston’s hand in case Auston thinks about changing his mind. Mitch waves to the other guys before they head out.

He and Auston don’t talk.

Once they’re outside the school Mitch drops his hand.

“You seemed like you didn’t want to.”

Auston flexes his fingers.

“You’re mad at me,” Mitch continues, determined to have this conversation even if he has to do all the talking.

“You gave up your health for me.”

“It’s not like I was doing anything with it.”

Auston shoves his hands in his pockets. “I’m not more important than you.”

“In a fight, you kinda are. But I know my limits. It was a friendly match, I wasn’t going to sacrifice  _ all _ my health.”

“In a real fight?”

“In a real fight, we would have potions.”

Auston kicks at a loose pebble.

“I can’t give you the answer you want,” Mitch tells him. “Is it going to be a problem?”

“No. I just wish you understood how important you are.”

Mitch knocks his shoulder into Auston’s. “I like you too, buddy.”

#

They come back from their walk, fingers sticky and mouths red from the snowcones they bought.

“Everyone’s totally going to think we just spent the past two hours macking it.”

“What?”

“You know, kissing?” Mitch puckers his lips and laughs as Auston shoves him into the room. 

His smile freezes when he sees everyone in the room. Johnny and Willy pull him in for a three-way hug while Burky moves like he wants to hug him too.

Kuzy crosses his arms over his chest. “You don’t have a mentor?” 

“Oh,” Mitch says. “That news spread fast.”

“You really came here alone?” Larkin asks.

“Canada didn’t want to send anyone,” Mitch answers, “but the King said they had to send  _ someone _ so here I am.” He turns to Auston. “See? Not so important.”

“Canada’s  _ wrong _ . You don’t have to wield a keyblade to be special.”

Johnny hugs him tighter in what Mitch thinks is agreement. 

“Want to hear about the meeting?” Mitch asks.

“Duh,” Jack answers.

They listen as Mitch tells them everything. At the end, Jack says, “They want to form a strike team to battle the encroaching Darkness and grounded  _ us _ for fighting some bouncywilds?”

“Bullshit,” Werenski agrees.

“So’s the fact that you left us behind,” Larkin says. “Next time, we go together.”

“Us too,” Vladi says. “We need to practice.”

“We’ll make our own strike team,” Burky agrees. “We’ll show the mentors how it’s done.”

“We need more of us, then,” Mitch says. “Hischier from Switzerland.”

“Kuhnhackl and Draisaitl from Germany,” Willy adds.

“Next weekend we’re going to the woods,” Jack says. “All of us. If we’re going to defeat the Darkness then we need to practice.”

“Oshie and JVR won’t let us,” Johnny says.

“They can come with us,” Mitch says. “The strike force was his idea. They can’t keep us off it.”

“Then Nicky comes too,” Willy says.

“And Ovie.”

“Okay,” Mitch says.

They plan who all will be on their team and even as he leans into Auston and pokes at Jack with his toes, he misses Davo and Stromer.

#

Ovechkin starts hugging him all the time. It’s weird. And kind of nice.

Backstrom practices Mitch’s sword forms with him and doesn’t give him a hard time about how it’s a waste since Mitch isn’t ever going to be the Keyblade Master. 

Things are good and that’s when PK shows up.

Team Destiny has had several successful excursions into the woods which means they all have something to trade.

But PK also has something--some _ one _ \--for Mitch.

There’s an older guy with PK that Mitch doesn’t recognize. He seems to know Mitch because he steps forward, expression serious as he extends a hand. “I’m Jonathan Toews. I heard you need a mentor.”

Mitch shakes his hand, because it’s polite and there’s something fragile lurking in the guy’s eyes. “I’m Mitch. Does this mean I have to stop sleeping in Auston’s room?”

“Uh, no?”

“Great. Nice to meet you.” He leaves Toews standing there and marches up to PK. In a hissed whisper he demands, “What the hell, dude?”

“Jonny needed a change of scenery.”

“I didn’t ask for anyone to be exiled for me.”

“He’ll be happier away from Canada.”

“Did you see Connor and Dylan while you were there?”

“It was a stealth mission,” PK answers. “Technically, we kidnapped Jonny.”

“Dude!”

PK shrugs like it isn’t a big deal.

#

Toews is… intense.

He wants a breakdown of Mitch’s time here, everything he’s learned and is slated to learn. He frowns when he sees how much magic training there is then offers to help Mitch with his Keyblade forms.

That turns out to be awesome. Because Tazer? Knows a lot. And he isn’t afraid to push Mitch, hounding him to be better.

It’s after a particularly grueling session that Mitch drags Tazer to the American suite with him. It’ll be good for him to have friends. Mitch’s classmates are all there, JVR and Oshie too. Mitch pushes Tazer towards the grown-ups then drops down next to Auston. When he rests his head on Auston’s thigh, his boyfriend plays with his hair. It’s nice.

“Do you think you’re working too hard?” Auston asks.

“No such thing.”

Auston tugs on his hair, just enough to say  _ take this seriously _ . “You’re spending a lot of time training.”

“Especially since you’re never going to need Keyblade training,” Jack adds.

Mitch sits up, pulling away from Auston. “What the fuck is this?”

“We’re worried about you,” Johnny says.

“I don’t need your worry. Tazer and I are good.” He glances back at his mentor, relieved that the man is watching the exchange. He offers Mitch a small smile.

“Do you two know each other? From Canada, I mean.”

“It’s a big planet,” Mitch answers.

“Why’d you decide to leave?” Larkin asks Tazer. “Mitch says no one volunteers to leave.”

“There’s nothing for me in Canada,” Tazer answers. “PK told me there was someone I could help. That seemed as good a reason as any.”

Mitch smiles even as he wonders why a complete stranger would leave Canada behind for him but his best friends wouldn’t.

“How do you know so many Keyblade forms?” Jack asks.

Pain flashes across Tazer’s face, naked and overwhelming. Mitch feels it in the clench of his heart and the sting of tears in the corners of his eyes. Then Tazer straightens his shoulders , determination replacing the hurt. 

“I was supposed to be the Keyblade Master.”

Of all the answers Mitch expected, that wasn’t it. Neither was anyone else if Werenski’s soft, “Oh shit,” is anything to go by.

Even JVR and Oshie look interested. Tazer instead of shrinking after the confession, seems to grow taller, accepting the failure.

“I failed my test,” he says. “My heart wasn’t strong enough, and I was stripped of my Keyblade. Your friend, McDavid, he should’ve had more time to prepare. It’s my fault he didn’t.”

“It’s okay,” Mitch says even though there’s no way it could be. He can’t imagine what it would be like to have the Keyblade then lose it. He didn’t even realize that could happen to someone as young as Tazer. What kind of test did they give him? How did he fail? Does Davo have to take the same test?

“Bullshit,” Oshie says. “You can’t lose a keyblade.”

“It was taken away from me because I didn’t deserve it.”

“That’s not how it works,” Auston says, quiet but commanding.

“You were supposed to  _ help _ Mitch,” Oshie says. “What the fuck is wrong with Canada?”

Tazer stiffens as if he’s absorbing the brunt of the attack for Mitch. Fuck that. The two of them are a team now. Mitch pops to his feet.

“I’m recovered. Want to go a few more rounds? Now that I know how much you know, I won’t let you go easy on me.”

Tazer cracks a hesitant smile. “Okay.”

#

Mitch’s days fall into a new pattern. He attends class, does his homework under Tazer’s watchful eye then they practice together. There’s a form routine they do every day but after that they mix it up. Sometimes they spar but they also do strength training and go on long runs and even work on Mitch’s magic.

“It’s important that you use all the abilities you have at your disposal,” Tazer tells him. “I don’t have any magic, but we can still work on your accuracy.”

“I can help.”

They both turn to see Ovechkin leaning against one of the practice dummies.

“He’s a mage,” Mitch tells Tazer.

“Alexander Ovechkin,” he introduces himself. “You’re the new Canadian.”

“Yes.” Tazer braces himself.

“The washed-up Keyblade Master.”

He absorbs the hit without a flinch. “Yes.”

“Fuck off,” Mitch snaps since Tazer won’t. “I don’t need your help.”

Tazer rests a hand on Mitch’s shoulder. “You do. There’s only so much I can teach you, and you need to be prepared. Knowing my weaknesses means I can mitigate them. Let Ovechkin help.”

“Maybe Nicky can help  _ you _ ,” Ovechkin says. “There aren’t any good sparring partners for him here.”

“Still aren’t,” Tazer says.

“There are wooden swords.”

Tazer shrugs but there’s a glimmer of something in his eyes.

#

Mitch and Tazer tackle the cave of shadows together. Tazer sweeps shadows aside with punishing swings of his sword, but he frowns as Mitch collects the loot.

“They’ll come back.”

“Then we fight them again. Pancakes?”

“What?”

Mitch just grins and takes him to the diner.

#

They kick bouncywild ass together.

Mitch whoops and makes Tazer high-five him. “That was  _ awesome _ . You’re really good with your sword.”

“Thanks.”

Tazer slips on a banana peel and falls on his ass. It’s just them in the forest now so Mitch clutches his sides and laughs. “Your face!” He tries to imitate it--wild eyes, a twist of a frown--but it’s ruined as he laughs again. Tazer sweeps his foot out, knocking Mitch’s feet out from under him.

Mitch continues to laugh as he stretches out on the forest floor. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too. Don’t tell PK. It’ll go to his head.”

Mitch grins. “Do you know him? From before, I mean.”

“He seems familiar but I…” Tazer stares up at the small patch of sky that’s visible through the trees. “I didn’t handle losing my Keyblade well. During the recovery process they took some of my memories.”

“Oh.” It’s Mitch’s turn to look up. “Do you ever wish they took more?” He winces as soon as he says it. There he goes again, big mouth getting him in trouble. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to answer that.”

“I used to,” Tazer says.

They lapse into silence.

They stay there so long the bouncywilds come back, so they fight them again. They grab pancakes afterward and Mitch drinks three cups of coffee when he realizes he won’t have enough time to sleep before class.

#

“I feel like we never see each other anymore,” Auston says.

“I don’t like how they talk about Tazer,” Mitch tells him. “We can hang out in my room, though. I have a single.” He pauses, considers. “I can’t believe we didn’t think about this earlier. I have a  _ single _ .”

#

They show up to dinner, their faces flushed and hair in complete disarray. 

Johnny looks between them then at Willy. As usual, his hair is defying gravity. Willy catches him looking and smirks. 

“Wow,” Hanifin says. “Who are  _ you _ having sex with?”

“No one,” Burky says. “It’s a magic thing.”

Willy pats Burky’s head which isn’t any kind of answer.

#

Mitch and Auston are actually doing homework when someone knocks on his door. He still checks to make sure they’re fully clothed before he says, “Come in.”

Tazer pokes his head in. He looks surprised to see Auston, and it completely throws him off. “Um, hi.”

“This is Auston. He’s my boyfriend.”

Tazer looks vaguely constipated which means he’s trying to have an emotion. “Does that mean no more closed doors?”

“No,” Mitch says, maybe too quickly. “We’re very trustworthy and responsible.”

“Hmm,” Tazer says.

“Training time?” Mitch asks, because the less Tazer thinks about this the better. “Did you know that Auston’s a Keyblade wielder? In America they have more than one.”

“Huh,” Tazer says.

“Can he train with us?” Mitch asks. “You’re really good and there aren’t a lot of people for him to practice with.”

“I’m not,” Tazer says, his face a mottled red. “But he can come.”

Mitch packs up his homework to finish later. He pokes Auston’s shoulder. “This is gonna be so much fun.”

#

Mitch abandons his own practice in favor of watching Auston and Tazer. Tazer, armed with a wooden practice sword, easily turns away Auston’s attacks and even launches one of his own. Their back-and-forth ends with Auston on his back, the dulled wooden point of Tazer’s sword against his throat.

“Huh,” Auston says. “Can you teach me that?”

Tazer smiles, quick and fleeting but  _ there _ . “Of course. You can join Mitch in his patterns since he seems to have gotten distracted.”

Mitch doesn’t bother with shame. They were much more interesting than his forms.

He’s equally distracted once Auston’s moving through his patterns with Mitch. He’s graceful, his movements fluid and strong, one seamlessly entering into another.

Mitch feels like he’s fighting his.

Side by side, it’s obvious that Auston’s a Keyblade wielder. Mitch doubles his efforts. If the Keyblade ever comes to him then he needs to be ready, and in the meantime this increases his strength and stamina which will help with the kind of fighting he  _ can _ do.

Auston has sweated through his shirt by the time Tazer calls the end to their time. Auston leans over, hands on his knees. “You do this every day?”

“Three repetitions,” Tazer says. “We’ll build you up to it.”

“Wow,” Kuzy says which is when Mitch realizes they have an audience. 

“Me too?” Jack asks.

Tazer glances at the mentors, lined up and staring as well. “You have your own teachers.”

“I don’t know any of that,” JVR says. “I’ve been giving Jack and Auston to Backstrom.”

“Two teachers are better than one,” Backstrom says. “Perhaps we can learn from each other. I don’t recognize all of those steps.”

“Mario Lemieux taught me,” Tazer says. “And he learned from Gretzky. Maybe you can teach me some of Sundin’s moves.”

“Yes,” Backstrom says. “We learn from each other.”

Mitch grins as everyone makes plans. Intergalactic cooperation, everyone. The King will be proud.

#

The first time Tazer and Backstrom spar the entire school shows up to watch. Backstrom’s using a wooden practice sword, same as Tazer so that neither will have an advantage. Mitch sits between Auston and Willy and can barely keep still.

“This is gonna be so cool.”

“It is if they ever start,” Jack grumbles. 

“They have to warm up,” Larkin says. “They’re old. We don’t want them to get hurt.”

Backstrom’s gaze snaps towards them as if he heard them talking. Larkin slides down in his seat.

“He’s not that scary,” Jack scoffs.

“ _ You _ fight him one-on-one then.”

“Maybe let Toews tire him out first,” Hanifin says. He laughs as he dodges Jack’s swing.

They settle down once Backstrom and Tazer take their places across from each other. Tazer extends his hand.

“Seriously?” Jack asks.

“It’s polite,” Mitch says.

“Canada’s oddly hung up on politeness for a planet that exiles people,” Jack says.

Backstrom and Tazer shake hands before taking three steps away from each other. They turn at the same time, swords raised.

Tazer is the first to attack, a flurry of blows that put Backstrom on a scrambling defense. Mitch leans forward as Tazer seemingly overwhelms the Swede. But then Backstrom ducks and spins away, interrupting Tazer’s drive. 

It’s Backstrom’s turn to attack and he drives forward, Tazer meeting each attack, It takes Mitch almost half a circuit of the arena to realize Tazer is  _ letting _ him have the upper hand. He’s learning Backstrom’s style, cataloging strengths and weaknesses. Backstrom seems to realize it at the same time as Mitch. His next thrust breaks the expected pattern, but Tazer meets it, wood clunking against wood.

Tazer spins, sword sweeping up then down so he’s the one with the upper hand. He drives Backstrom back until Backstrom stands his ground and pushes back.

They spring apart and circle each other, both wary now. Both smiling.

“Wow,” Vladi whispers.

They go again, almost too fast to track on this sequence. Pride blooms in Mitch’s chest because that’s  _ his _ mentor. Determination lodges in his head as Tazer dodge rolls and pops up, ready to attack. If he can be such an accomplished fighter then Mitch can too. All it takes is practice and a good sparring partner.

In a flurry of moves, Tazer disarms Backstrom, the Swede’s sword knocked away. Backstrom ducks and weaves, but Tazer drives him back, away from the sword. A sweep of his leg and Backstrom’s on the ground.

Tazer brings his sword down for the killing blow and suddenly Backstrom’s Keyblade is in his hands.

Both men pause.

Slowly, Backstrom raises his Keyblade until his body is open and vulnerable. “I yield,” he says, words quiet but they carry through the silent arena.

Tazer shifts his sword to his left hand and extends his right to Backstrom.

“Well,” Jack says as the two men head towards the showers. “We have a lot of work to do.”

“No shit,” Auston agrees.

#

The next time Mitch shows up to practice with Tazer, he brings Auston and Jack. Kuzy’s already there waiting for them. So are Ovie and Backstrom.

“You’re with me today,” Ovechkin says.

Mitch looks around but there’s no Willy or Johnny or any of the other mages. He points to himself.

“Yes, you.”

Mitch shakes his head. “I’m here for my sword forms.” Class is when he works on his magic.

“Today we swap,” Ovechkin says.

Kuzy runs his warm-up laps with Jack, Auston, and Tazer. They didn’t even wait for him. He hunches his shoulders. So much for having a mentor of his own.

He dutifully does everything Ovechkin tells him to do but when it’s over he skips the shower and flees to his room. He flops down on his bed, hating the tears that well up in his eyes. He knows he’s being selfish. Tazer is  _ amazing _ , and he should train the people who need training, but Mitch thought he came here for  _ him _ .

Stupid.

His pillow is damp by the time someone knocks tentatively on his door. Tazer is the only person who knocks. He thinks about ignoring him but mumbles, “Come in,” instead.

He doesn’t turn when the door opens.

“You left early,” Tazer says.

Mitch shrugs.

“The other mentors think you’re neglecting your magic. It’s gotten worse since I arrived. I’m supposed to prepare you and--”

“You  _ are _ preparing me.” Mitch twists to look at Tazer now. He’s in the doorway, shoulders hunched. “You’re the only one who cares about the important stuff.”

Tazer shakes his head. He steps cautiously into the room then sits on the edge of Mitch’s bed. “All I can do is prepare you for a possibility. You should be training for who you are.”

“I’m Canadian,” Mitch protests. “That means I have to be ready.”

“Ovechkin and JVR want to take over your mage training.”

Which leaves the Keyblade wielders to Tazer. Mitch draws his knees up to his chest.

“We can still practice,” Tazer says, “but we need to cut back to make time for your other skills.”

“You don’t want me.”

“That’s not true.” Tazer reaches a hand out but pulls it back when Mitch glares at him. “I’m learning too, and there are skills beyond swords and Keyblades. Not for me, but you have a whole path open in front of you. You should see where it leads.”

“But what if it leads me away from home?”

“Then that’s where you go. But you’ll have all of us with you. Jack said something about Team Destiny?”

Mitch laughs. “It’s just a stupid name. We’re not really going to do anything.” A bunch of kids against the Darkness?

A familiar voice drifts through his ears.  _ You’re not good enough. _ He bows his head.

#

“You’ve been neglecting your homework,” Tazer says.

“It’s a right of passage.”

“Uh huh. You can’t come out with me tonight if it isn’t done.”

He has three nights’ of work to do. He gets it done in a frenzy. He and Tazer haven’t fought Heartless in  _ forever _ . He rushes through dinner and races to Tazer’s room. He doesn’t care if he looks over eager.

Tazer opens the door with a smile. “You’re ready?”

“Duh. Is anyone else coming?”

“Just us.”

Mitch beams.

“I want to try something new,” Tazer says. He picks a sword off his table and hands it over.

It’s a real blade, sharp and studded with blaze gems.

“You want me to use this?” Mitch asks. It seems a little strange after a whole week of training with Ovechkin and being told to focus on his strengths.

“This is my weapon tonight.” Tazer grabs a pair of blue gloves and pulls them on. “I want to see if you can channel magic through it.”

“Cool,” Mitch says. “Shadows first then?”

“Shadows first.”

#

Even with the gloves, there are a few times Tazer has to drop the sword.

“Focus on the gems, not the sword itself,” Tazer says.

Mitch takes a deep breath. He ignores the slinking shadows and concentrates on the blaze gems. They glow like embers in a fire as he pours his magic into them. They grow brighter and when Tazer sweeps his sword through a cluster of shadows, the blade looks like a living flame.

By the time they clear the cave, Mitch has a pretty good handle on it. 

When they fight the bouncy and powerwilds, Mitch stays out of sight and feeds magic into Tazer’s sword. It doesn’t take as much magic, but his entire focus is on Tazer which only works if the enemies ignore him. He’ll have to learn to multitask for this to be a benefit.

“Can I do it with Keyblades?” Mitch asks as they head back to the school.

“Yes but not yet. There aren’t gems to channel through so you’ll need to practice this first or you’ll scorch your ally’s hands.”

“Does more practice mean more adventures?”

“Yeah.” Tazer slings an arm around Mitch’s shoulders. “I was thinking we go somewhere this weekend and see what other Heartless have infested Destiny Island.”

Mitch pumps his fist in the air.

#

Fortunately, there are two days in the weekend. Mitch spends the first with Team Destiny. They hit the beach, spreading out blankets and towels so they can soak up some sun before running into the water.

“Do you ever wonder how far the ocean goes?” Hanifin asks.

“Dude.” Jack eyes him, betrayed. “Did you get high without me?”

Hanifin shoves him. “I’m being serious. We could build a boat or something and see how long it takes to find land again.”

“I think he’s asking you on a date,” Larkin stage whispers.

“Fuck off,” Hanifin says.

Jack considers it. “Do I get to wrestle an aquatank to earn your devotion?”

“ _ That _ I would watch,” Burky says. He puffs his cheeks out and pretends to be an aquatank.

Hanifin grumbles about asshole friends.

Mitch leans into Auston’s side. “Would you wrestle an aquatank for me?”

“Nah. But I’d take you to fight one together.”

“Is that more or less romantic?”

“You want romance?” Auston asks. His smile is Mitch’s only warning before he’s swept off his feet in a bridal carry. Mitch scrambles to wrap his arms around Auston’s neck, but he’s too slow and Auston tosses him into the deeper water.

The only response to that is to tackle Auston into the ocean and soon all of them are splashing and dunking each other. 

Mitch sleeps in Auston’s bed that night and almost doesn’t manage to stay awake for their good night kiss.

#

Mitch and Tazer work on Mitch’s magic channeling over the next few weeks. It isn’t until he’s looking at the neat line of elemental gems on his bookcase that he has an idea.

“What if I make a sword?”

Tazer, who was looking over Mitch’s homework, looks up. “Huh?”

His staff rests against his bookcase, and it’s come in handy in a couple fights, but if he can cast just as easily through a sword then he’ll have a magic boost  _ and _ a weapon.

“I thought we were practicing so I could channel through Auston’s Keyblade, but what if I channeled through my own sword?”

“You’re not a close-range fighter.”

“I have the sword skills. Why not use them?” Maybe JVR will get off his case about spending too much time practicing patterns when he’ll never need them. Obviously Mitch doesn’t  _ want _ to be a Keyblade Master, because that would mean something bad had happened to Davo, but he has to be ready just in case. And if he can turn that preparation into something immediately useful, then, well.

“You’re squishy,” Tazer says. “You should be in the back line.”

“I’m fast. Can we at least try it?”

Mitch turns his best pleading expression on Tazer. He’ll continue to practice regardless, and if he can give Auston or Jack a boost while they fight then he will. But if he could also boost his own fighting then why wouldn’t he?

He knows the Keyblade wielders are the priority. They’re the strongest, the sturdiest, and they’re the ones people want fighting. Mitch is support class, but he can support from places besides the back line. Stromer was always in the thick of things, drawing aggro meant for Davo.

Mitch isn’t as hardy as Stromer, not by a long shot, but he doesn’t need to be. He’s quick and agile and he can  _ help _ .

“We can try,” Tazer says, slowly as if he’s trying to temper Mitch’s expectations.

Mitch pumps his fist in the air. “You won’t regret this. I’ll be the best student you’ve ever had.”

“You already are.”

Mitch’s smile grows. “Do we hug now? I feel like this is a hugging moment.”

Tazer’s eyes widen, alarmed, but he doesn’t say no so Mitch throws himself at his mentor. Tazer’s return hug is less enthusiastic, but they’ll work on it.

#

He has to entrust the forging of his sword to one of his teachers and it’s an unbearable two weeks before it’s ready. In the meantime, he practices his forms, practices with Tazer, and kisses Auston almost as much as he wants to.

Tonight, he and Auston are walking along the beach again. They’re holding hands with fingers sticky from where their ice cream melted.

“Why don’t we do this every night?” Mitch asks. He turns them towards the pier.

“Because we’d get bored of it?”

“How could I get bored of ice cream and kissing? They’re basically the two best things in the whole galaxy.”

“Who said anything about kissing?”

Auston grins, pleased with his joke. Mitch rolls his eyes but squeezes Auston’s hand, fond. They walk to the end of the pier and take their sandals off so they can sit with their feet in the water.

The setting sun reflects off the water, soft oranges and muted pinks. Mitch leans into Auston’s side as he stares out at the ocean. 

“It’s hard to believe sometimes that there’s stuff in there that wants to kill us.”

Auston cracks a smile. “Romantic.”

“You know me.” He swings his feet in the water. “Is this when we kiss?”

“Unless you want to talk about what kinds of monsters are in the ocean.”

“How about we talk about the monster in your pants?”

Mitch waggles his eyebrows, over the top. Auston shoves him into the ocean.

#

They eventually get around to the kissing, and they lose track of time. By the time Mitch realizes that it’s past lights out, it’s too late to do anything about it.

Mitch is also chilly, the wet clothes and night breeze finally getting to him. “Hot chocolate?” he asks, steering Auston towards the diner.

“That won’t help you sleep.”

“So we stay up all night. I have some ideas for what we can do.”

“Wrestle aquatanks?”

Mitch laughs and leads them into the diner. He orders a large hot chocolate with extra whipped cream. The waitress, after eyeing their damp clothes, gives them their drinks to go.

They walk back to school sipping their drinks. They kiss once at the base of Mitch’s climbing tree before they scramble up and over the wall. 

“My room tonight,” Mitch says. They’ll be more likely to get away with the late return.

They round the corner and pause when they see Tazer, JVR, and Oshie camped outside Mitch’s room.

“Busted,” Auston whispers.

“I got this,” Mitch whispers back.

The three mentors look up when the boys round the corner, and the Americans frown. They’ve probably been thinking up the perfect lecture since lights out. He’s glad Tazer isn’t boring and stuffy like them.

“Heyyyy,” Mitch greets.

“You’re in trouble,” JVR says as if that means Mitch shouldn’t be polite. “We’ve talked about your habit of sneaking out.”

And now he’s trying the disappointed mentor angle. As if that has any effect on Mitch. He’s survived disappointed  _ Canada _ . JVR won’t break him.

He exchanges a look with Tazer as if to say  _ isn’t he cute? _

“I know and I was listening,” Mitch says even as Auston squeezes his hand, a warning. “You said no more sneaking out to fight Heartless. Which we didn’t. And technically, we didn’t sneak  _ out _ at all. Just in.”

JVR rubs his temples like he has a headache.

“Your clothes are wet,” Oshie says.

“We figured it would be bad to be caught skinny dipping.”

Tazer laughs then covers his mouth when JVR shoots him a dark look.

“You went for a late night swim?” Oshie asks.

Honestly, Mitch understands why he’s skeptical, but he’s telling the truth. And he’ll tell as much of the truth as Oshie can stand. “Among some other things. Twilight walk on the beach, a swim, some time to dry off. You want to see my hickey?”

His fingers are on the waistband of his shorts when Oshie throws his hands up to make him stop. JVR’s covering his eyes. Tazer’s laughing again. It’s a good sound. He should laugh more, even if his face scrunches up and looks silly.

“No one’s seeing anything,” Oshie says. “Auston, you’re coming back with us.” He glances at Mitch then Tazer.

The laughter disappears, leaving Tazer serious. “I can discipline my own trainee.”

“No more sneaking out,” Oshie says. “For  _ any _ reason.”

“Any reason?” Mitch asks. “There have to be some exceptions. Extenuating circumstances, if you will.”

Oshie takes a fortifying breath.

“I thought we were going back to the room,” Auston says.

Mitch darts in to drop a kiss on Auston’s cheek. “See you at breakfast!” He ducks into his room before Oshie can grumble any more.

He peels out of his damp clothes and pulls on his pajamas. Tazer joins him as Mitch tries to put his hair into some kind of order.

“Sneaking out to make out with your boyfriend?” Tazer asks.

“Like a normal teenager. Aren’t you proud?” He drops down onto his bed, giving up his hair as a lost cause.

“Very.”

A ghost of Tazer’s smile is back.

“I don’t need to sneak out to fight anymore, because you take me. But we should take some of the other Team Destiny guys. We won’t be prepared to fight the Darkness unless we practice on something more challenging than dummies.”

“I’ll ask on a night where they’re more receptive.”

“Okay. You and I can still go out, though. My sword should be ready soon.”

“TJ thinks I’m pushing you too hard.”

“Well,  _ TJ _ isn’t my mentor. What we’re doing is working.”

“You’re a kid.”

No way. Mitch has the perfect mentor. He won’t let the  _ Americans _ ruin everything.

“First of all, I’m not a kid. I’m a teenager. A  _ Canadian _ teenager. We grow up faster.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t.”

“You need to stop spending time with Oshie and JVR. They’re a bad influence.” He can see Tazer readying his argument, so Mitch launches into his first. “I need the practice and I need the drops. I don’t have a monthly stipend like the others, because Canada wants nothing to do with me now. And once I graduate, which I don’t know when that is, I’ll be on my own. I need to save and I need to hone my skills.”

“You won’t be on your own unless you want to be. Us Canadians have to stick together.”

“What’s your plan?” Mitch asks. “Why’d you even come? Did PK really kidnap you?”

“There wasn’t anything for me in Canada. PK told me to stop wallowing. I didn’t want to. But he told me there was someone I could help and wasn’t that why I wanted to be the Keyblade Master? So I could help people?”

“Being my mentor isn’t the same as being the savior of Canada.”

“Canada doesn’t need a savior.”

“And I do?”

“No, so it’s a good thing that’s not who I am. I’m here to be your mentor. Maybe one day your friend. We’ve only ever known Canada, but there’s a whole galaxy out there.”

“You don’t miss anyone?”

“I--” Tazer sits down on the one chair Mitch has in his room. “There’s someone. I don’t remember his name. I remember being angry with him. I remember feeling betrayed. I think he was my friend. But I don’t remember.”

“That’s shitty that they’d do that to you. Did they--your family?”

“My family remembers me. Which means they know I’m a failure. It was a relief to leave.”

Well, shit.

“Do you want to join Team Destiny? We’re going to turn back the Darkness and save the galaxy.”

“Ambitious.”

“Someone has to do it. All the grown-ups do is argue.”

“I’m not a grown-up?”

“Eh.” Mitch tilts his hand back and forth. “You’re a  _ cool _ adult.”

“Thank you. I think.”

Mitch nods and covers a yawn with his hand.

“Good night,” Tazer says as he stands. “Stay in tomorrow. Too many late nights in a row will make you sick.”

Mitch gives him a sleepy thumbs up as he burrows under his blankets. Tazer turns off the light on his way out.

Seriously. Best mentor ever.

#

Mitch keeps overhearing Tazer and Oshie arguing. Not the words, they always clam up when they notice Mitch or the other guys, but there’s a lot of raised voices. Mitch doesn’t like it.

He and Auston are having some alone time when Johnny bursts into Mitch’s room. 

“Dude!” Auston exclaims.

“You’re lucky we’re wearing pants,” Mitch says.

“Put on your shirts,” Johnny says. “Oshie and Toews are fighting.” 

“What?” Mitch pulls his shirt on and grabs his staff. “What kind of fighting?”

Johnny eyes Mitch’s weapon. “You know what kind.”

Mitch takes off running. He ignores how they both shout at him to slow down and moves faster. Tazer’s in trouble, and Mitch won’t leave him to fend for himself.

He skids into the arena in time to see Oshie knock Tazer’s sword out of his hands. Oshie’s staff sparks with magic.

“Defend yourself,” Oshie says.

Tazer looks  _ small _ , defeated, on his knees in the arena. “I can’t.”

“You fucking can! You’re a Keyblade wielder!”

Tazer shakes his head.

Lighting touches down around him.

“Fight back!”

Tazer bows his head.

“Bully!” Mitch shouts. He throws an aero that knocks Oshie back ten meters. He lands on his ass with a grunt.

Mitch is already calling his next spell to him when Oshie throws a fireball at him. He dodges, popping up closer to Tazer. He stands between his mentor and Oshie, staff raised.

“Leave him alone.”

“This isn’t your battle,” Oshie says. He stands, looking no worse for wear.

“Like hell it isn’t.”

Oshie smiles and it makes shivers run down Mitch’s spine. He stands his ground. Or at least he tries to. An aero blast bowls him over. Something presses on his chest, holding him down. He gasps and tries to shove the invisible weight off. It doesn’t work.

“Let him go,” Tazer says.

“Make me.”

Tazer runs at Oshie, nothing but his fury and his fists to fight with. Oshie knocks him aside with a wave of his hand. He stalks towards Mitch, staff still pinning Mitch down.

“I guess they haven’t taught you gravity yet,” he says. Once he’s standing over Mitch, he drops his voice to a whisper. “I won’t hurt you.”

“Bullshit,” Mitch snarls. He fights against the spell but it only holds him tighter. It feels like the fucking suit, the one he hasn’t felt in weeks.

“Jonny won’t fight for himself,” Oshie says as he raises his staff. “Maybe he’ll fight for you.”

Oshie brings his staff down, but before he can do anything, he’s knocked aside. Then Tazer is there, Keyblade glinting in the afternoon sun. 

Tazer stares, eyes impossibly wide. “Horeshit fucking,” he begins.

But the spell is knocked loose and Mitch can move and Tazer’s holding a Keyblade which means, “DAVO!”

#

They’re all in the American suite, Team Destiny and the grown-ups. Mitch still can’t find any words besides “Davo.” Something happened. Mitch has been playing around at  _ school _ and his best friend is  _ dead _ . He shakes and Auston holds him tight as if he can keep Mitch together by sheer force of will.

“Idiot,” Ovechkin tells Oshie.

“It  _ worked _ .”

Tazer’s still staring at his hands like they don’t belong to him.

Backstrom kneels in front of Mitch. “There can be more than one Keyblade wielder. Your friend is okay.”

Mitch shakes his head. Canada’s different. Something happened to Davo and the Keyblade chose Tazer. What about Stromer? Is he okay?

“It’s like Auston and Jack.”

Mitch shakes his head again. They’ve never been like that.

“I think the adults have done enough,” Jack announces. “We want to be on our own.”

Ovechkin raises his eyebrows.

“Cuddle pile,” Burakovsky says, serious. “No stupid people invited.”

“Exception for Hanny,” Larkin says.

“Hey!”

There’s muffled laughter. The mentors hesitate but file out. JVR makes Mitch promise to come to them if they need anything. As soon as the door is closed, Jack brings them all together.

“What’s the plan?”

“I can pilot,” Vladi says.

“It should be a small team,” Auston says.

“We’ll distract the mentors,” Werenski promises.

“I can be sick.” Burakovsky coughs.

“Just look at Hanny’s face,” Jack says. “It’ll be more convincing.”

“Asshole,” Hanny says.

Mitch sits in a daze as they plan around him. It isn’t until they’re in space that he realizes what’s happening.

“This  _ definitely _ counts as sneaking out.”

“Worth it,” Auston says. He curls his arm around Mitch’s shoulders. “We’re going to find Davo and Stromer.”

“They can join Team Destiny,” Willy says.

It’s the five of them: Vladi, Willy, Jack, Auston, and Mitch. It’s a balanced party. Mitch trusts that if Davo is hurt somewhere then they’ll find him and rescue him. And if it’s worse than that…  _ no _ . He can’t think that way.

“...was that a  _ suit _ ?” Vladi asks as a paisley jacket floats by. He dodges one covered in Keyblades.

“Don Cherry protects us,” Mitch says.

“Isn’t Don Cherry dead?” Jack asks..

“Everyone hold on,” Vladi says before he rolls the ship.

“You know Don Cherry?” Mitch asks.

“That was the last time Canada was part of the galaxy,” Auston says. “He was a noted isolationist.”

“He said Russians are lazy,” Vladi says.

“Swedes too,” Willy adds.

“He protects us,” Mitch repeats.

“He’s still alive?” Jack asks.

Vladi dodges another two suits. “Wait,  _ he’s _ the Darkness that surrounds Canada?”

“Don Cherry is one of our greatest Keyblade Masters. He isn’t working for the Darkness.”

They’re slammed into by a suit covered in nocturnes. The ship spirals into the atmosphere.

“You sure about that?” Vladi asks as he tries to control their descent. 

“There are a lot of foreigners on board,” Auston says. “He probably doesn’t like that.”

They land more-or-less smoothly in the middle of a giant field.

They gather their weapons and supplies.

“You should stay with the ship,” Auston tells Vladi.

“Someone should stay with him,” Jack adds. “None of us are ever alone.”

Willy stays with Vladi and they redistribute their supplies.

Mitch, Auston, and Jack set out across the field. They’re all quiet, caught up in their own thoughts. Mitch hopes they landed near the GTA. If they aren’t in Ontario this is about to be a long trip.

They reach the trees that border the edge of the field. Looking back, the ship is a small speck.

“How long do we need to walk for?” Jack asks.

“Don’t tell me you’re tired already,” Mitch answers.

Jack shoves him, playful, and Mitch laughs. His laughter sticks in his throat when two people step out from behind a giant boulder. 

“Davo!” Mitch exclaims. He’s frozen at first, too relieved to see his friends to move. But then he flings himself forward, because they’re alive and if he doesn’t hug them this second then--

Stromer knocks him away from Davo with his shield.

“Ow?” Mitch says, clutching his arm. “What the hell, Stromer?”

“Who are you?” Stromer demands.

“What?” Mitch looks between his friends. “This isn’t funny guys.”

“I’m not laughing,” Davo says.

Mitch scrambles to his feet. Stromer steps so he stays between them and Davo. “I’m me. Marns. Mitchell. You know, your best friend who was kidnapped? Total non-beauty move not coming after me, by the way.”

Davo calls his Keyblade and for the first time in his life, Mitch is afraid of his best friend.

“ _ This _ is the savior of Canada?” Jack scoffs.

“You’ve brought invaders to our planet,” Stromer says.

“They’re wearing suits,” Auston says.

“No they’re not,” Mitch says. Then he sees Stromer’s head tilt and he dives to knock Auston out of the way of Davo’s blizzara blast. 

Auston and Jack call their Keyblades.

“What the hell?” Stromer asks.

“We can take them,” Davo says, confident and steady.

“No,” Mitch says.

Davo and Stromer leap into action.

“No!” Mitch yells, reaching for his magic.

Everything stops.

“Um?” he asks. Davo is frozen, determination making his eyes hard. Stromer’s caught mid-snarl. Jack is  _ grinning _ .

“Weird,” Auston says.

He can move, for some reason.

“Keep everyone still,” Auston says. “I want to try something.”

“Hurry,” Mitch says. The spell is draining him fast. “I can’t hold it.”

Auston vanishes his Keyblade and steps up to Davo. He peels something off of him that Mitch can’t see. He summons his Keyblade again and attacks the ground.

“Auston,” Mitch warns.

The spell slips away from him. He falls to his knees as everyone’s released.

“You bastard!” Stromer shouts.

He lunges for Mitch, weapon raised. Drained, all Mitch can do is lift his arms and hope.

There’s a screech and Davo’s there, his Keyblade holding Stromer off.

“Davo, what did they do to you?” Stromer demands.

“Can you help him?” Davo asks Auston.

Between Jack and Auston they rip the suit off Stromer and destroy it. At least, Mitch assumes that’s what they do, because he can’t see it. But Stromer stops trying to kill Mitch so that’s a plus.

He blinks, shakes his head and asks, “Marns?”

“Holy shit, you scared me!” Mitch throws himself into his arms, knocking Stromer on his back. Davo piles on top of them.

“What the hell happened?” Stromer asks.

“You’ve been gone for  _ months _ ,” Davo realizes.

“As touching as this is,” Jack drawls. “We have company.”

Mitch looks up and sees hideous suits bouncing towards them.

“Retreat?” Mitch asks.

“To the ship,” Auston agrees.

They turn and run, chased by patterned suits. Vladi lowers the ramp for them and they jump onto the ship.

“Hold on!” Vladi calls as the engines come online. The ship is knocked to the side as the suits descend on it.

Willy blasts them with lightning, stunning them long enough for the ship to lift off.

“Oh shit, they can fly,” Vladi says.

Mitch chugs an ether and joins Willy as they ward them off. They clear the atmosphere then the barricade surrounding the planet.

Mitch slumps to the floor.

“Um,” Willy says. “Did we kidnap Canada’s Keyblade Master?”

“He’s not that special,” Jack says.

Stromer has his shield raised and ready to go in a second.

“It’s okay,” Davo says. Hunched on the floor of the ship, he looks small. He looks to Mitch, eyes Bambi round. “I can’t believe we forgot about you.”

“Tazer says it happened to him too. But he knew it happened. I guess they were sneakier with you.”

“We would’ve come with you.”

Mitch tucks himself against Davo’s side. “That’s why they made you forget.”

Stromer stares out the window. “I’ve never left Canada before.”

“We can drop you back off?” Mitch offers.

“We definitely can’t,” Vladi says. “The ship won’t survive. It’s going to be a slow flight home.”

“What attacked us?” Davo says.

“We think it was Don Cherry suits.”

“Don Cherry’s been dead for years ,” Stromer says.

“But he’ll live in our hearts forever,” Davo finishes. “That’s what we say every year on his anniversary.”

“Creepy,” Jack says.

They all ignore him.

“You think what, we’ve willed him into immortality?” Stromer asks.

“He took the Keyblade Master vow,” Davo says. “To stand between Canada and danger and protect us until his final breath.”

“Wait, we created the Darkness blockade?” Mitch asks. “We have to turn around. We need to fix this.

“We need to get back to Destiny Island before anyone realizes we’re missing,” Willy says.

“Oh, they know,” Vladi says. He points out the front window. “That’s the Capital One.”

“Oh shit,” Willy says, staring out at Russia’s flagship. “We’re in trouble.”

“We’re not going down without a fight,” Stromer says. “There are guns on this thing, right?”

“It’s not that kind of trouble,” Mitch says. “We may have stolen a ship and snuck out of school to launch a rescue mission.”

“Mitch!” Davo exclaims.

“I thought you were in trouble!”

“We are  _ now _ ,” Davo says, but he stands up and straightens his shoulders. “I’ll talk to them.”

“Oh boy,” Mitch says.

The Capital One opens it’s hatch and activates its tractor beam to draw them in. It’s a tense ten minutes before the door opens. All their mentors are there and  _ none _ of them look happy.

Davo, bless him, strides right up to Ovechkin and says, “I’m Connor McDavid, Canada’s Keyblade Master. Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?”

“I’m not here for you,” Ovechkin says, gruff.

He tries to step around Davo, but he puts himself in Ovechkin’s way.

“You gonna stop us all, kid?” Oshie asks.

“He has the strongest heart in Canada,” Jack says.

The tips of Davo’s ears turn red. “I want to know your intentions towards my friends.”

“You’ve only known them for a couple hours,” Oshie says.

Davo’s teeth glint as he smiles. “My heart can hold a lot of love.”

“Woah, hey now,” Jack says.

“Shut up,” Stromer tells him.

JVR throws his hands up in the air. “Fucking Canadians.”

Tazer pushes through the crowd. He rests his fist against his chest before he holds it out. Davo does the same.

“You’re one of us,” Davo says. “Did I forget you too?”

“You wouldn’t have known me. I was supposed to be the Keyblade Master but when I failed my test, you were chosen.”

“You had to take a test?” Stromer asks. “Davo didn’t.”

“As charming as this reunion is,” Oshie says, “what the hell were you all thinking? You stole a ship and took it to Canada!”

“Davo was in danger!” Mitch answers. “I had to help him.”

“He doesn’t know how to fly,” Vladi says. 

“We wanted to help,” Willy adds.

Jack shrugs. “I wanted to see why Mitch’s friends didn’t come looking for him.”

“It was the right thing to do,” Auston says.

Oshie takes a deep breath, probably so he can yell at them. Backstrom puts a hand on his arm, silencing him. Mitch reaches for Auston’s hand. Backstrom’s quiet, but he’s  _ scary _ .

“What you did was very brave and very noble,” Backstrom says. “It was also dangerous and foolish. You could’ve asked for help.”

“Oh,” Mitch says.

“I thought I was a member of Team Destiny,” Tazer says.

Mitch scuffs his foot on the floor. “It all happened pretty fast. We weren’t thinking.”

“No shit,” Oshie says.

“Enough,” Backstrom says. “Everyone is safe, and when we’re back on Destiny Island we’re going to have a long talk. This will never happen again.”

“Does that mean you’re all on Team Destiny?” Willy asks.

“We’re not going to sit and do nothing while the galaxy is under attack,” Jack says.

“The galaxy’s in danger?” Stromer asks. “Count us in.”

“Doesn’t Canada need you?” JVR asks.

Everyone turns to Davo.

“They’ve already called the next Keyblade Master. I felt it when we broke orbit. I’m an exile. And I’m not--” he swallows back the rest of it. 

“That’s not how it works,” Tazer says. “I know it’s what we were taught, but they lied.”

“Why would Canada lie to us?” Davo asks.

“Well,” Jack begins.

Auston elbows him.

“Come with me,” Tazer says. “I have something to show you.”

Stromer starts to follow but Mitch says, “It’s okay. You can trust Tazer.”

“And the rest of them?” he levels a glare at Oshie.

“They’re not so bad,” Mitch answers. “They’re just not used to the way Canada does things. Did you know that Americans don’t learn HP Gift?”

Stromer’s mouth falls open.

“I know!”

“They don’t care about their Keyblade Master?”

“This is going to blow your mind,” Mitch says. He drags Stromer away to explain Keyblade  _ wielders _ . He forces Jack and Auston to demonstrate.

“There’s more than one of you?” Stromer asks. He shakes his head even as he stares at their Keyblades.

“There’s more than one of us too,” Davo says.

He rejoins the group, Keyblade in hand. Tazer, standing next to him, holds his as well.

“What?” Stromer asks.

Mitch stares at his hands. Maybe he’ll be able to use a Keyblade after all.

“Canada lied about a lot of things,” Davo says. “I’m not going back until I see enough of the galaxy to decide things for myself.”

“Team Destiny just got another two members,” Mitch answers.

“That’s a stupid name,” Stromer says.

“You’re a stupid name.”

“Your face is a stupid name.”

Mitch dives for his knees and tackles him to the ground.

Things are back to normal.

#

Davo and Stromer get the double next to Mitch’s room.

Everyone is grounded until graduation. Mitch still doesn’t know when that is. From what Auston says, JVR and Oshie are so mad because they were scared. Ovie keeps hugging the Russians whenever they’re in arms reach. Backstrom scowls but once he thinks no one’s looking it melts into a smile.

Tazer just told Mitch to ask for help next time. Then he added that he has to respect the grounding. It means he has to be in his room at lights out with no exceptions.

It’s seriously cut down on his Auston time.

At least Tazer’s definition of  _ his _ room extends to Davo and Stromer’s. Since he can’t have Auston over, Mitch dragged his mattress into the other room. It’s almost like being back home.

Tonight, though, there’s still an hour before lights out, and Mitch spends it in the arena. He stand in front of one of the practice dummies and pictures a Keyblade, blue with white accents.

Nothing happens.

He tries thinking about defending Canada, Destiny Academy, the  _ galaxy _ .

Nothing.

He thinks about Auston and how his eyes crinkle when he smiles. How easily their arms fit around each other. The stupid bandana and how he never seems to sunburn when they go swimming.

His fingers flex around empty air.

“Hey.”

Mitch looks up to see Auston. He wonders for a second if he summoned him.

“Hey,” Mitch echoes.

Auston doesn’t ask what Mitch has been doing. He probably knows. He hops up on the half-wall.

“Different people have different abilities,” Auston says. “It’s genetics.”

So Mitch’s DNA is faulty. He shrugs like it doesn’t sting.

“What Canada taught you is wrong.” Auston holds a hand out. Mitch clasps it and allows Auston to reel him in until he’s standing between Auston’s legs.

“You don’t know that.”

Auston’s eyes crinkle. He runs his free hand through Mitch’s hair. “If they were right then you would be a Keyblade wielder. You have the strongest heart of anyone I know.”

“Auston,” he breathes, caught off guard, overwhelmed by the emotion that rises in his chest. “I love you too.”

Auston tips his head back and kisses him.

#

Team Destiny convenes their first official meeting two weeks after their trip to Canada. They have to meet in the cafeteria during off hours because there isn’t a room big enough for all of them.

They have kids from a bunch of different planets. They don’t have as many mentors, but they don’t need them. 

“This is where the threat’s coming from.” Mitch points on the map the King gave him the other day. “See, here’s a bottleneck. If we can keep them from making it through the tunnel then we have our best chance. Once they’re in open space, they can spread out and multiply.”

“We drive them back until we reach the source,” Jack says. “We have the firepower to do it.”

“And the source?” Willy asks.

Davo taps where they think it’s originating. “We channel the power of the Keyblade.”

“Keyblades,” Jack corrects. “This isn’t a one-man show anymore.”

Kuzy nods. “We’re all in this together.”

“Together,” they all echo. Mitch smiles and leans into Auston’s side.

If they work as a team then there isn’t anything they can’t do.


End file.
